Don't Lose Your Way
by Keydiam
Summary: For so long Ahri has wandered the isle of Ionia and consumed the life essence of men. Until one day, when she started to feel remorse for her actions. Her way leads her to the League of Legends, where the summoners offered her help when she served them. Now, as a new champion Ahri still struggles with her new human life...until she met a specific avatar of the sun... (PAUSED!)
1. A Foxy Girl

**Author's Note**

Everybody knew that something like this would come. Everybody knew it, after watching the ‟A New Dawn" cinematic from Riot. This pairing is now officially my OTP.  
On a side note: Ahri has some features from the cinematic. Changing eye colors when using her magic and the most time only one to three tails. (Stop hating on me alright! There will be an explanation for this)  
And yes. The title is a reference to 'Kill la Kill' (one of the best animes ever). Another thing: I'm not a native English speaker, so there may be some errors and mistakes. If you find some: Tell me so I can improve myself further!

**Chapter 1 **  
**A Foxy Girl**

‟Oh, would you _please_ give me another one?", the girl said with her most innocent voice, her hands behind her back. Even though her clothing ruined the impression of an innocent girl.

‟Alright, alright. Take this one...but nothing more! You had enough of this stuff", the barkeeper replied, and gave the girl another small ceramic jug filled with a typical Ionian beverage called sake, a rice wine.

‟You're a gem", the girl replied with a playful voice. She winked at the innkeeper and grabbed the small jug. She slowly turned around and walked through the inn. She felt how some sailors and other men looked at her curiously, but she was used to it.

The girl sat down on a pillow, a bit farther away from the other humans. Every single table was separated from each other through rather thin visual cover. On the ceiling some paper lanterns hung, illuminating the whole place together with a big fire in the center of the room. The tables were small, and the guests didn't sit on chairs like it was usual, instead there were pillows for each one. Luckily for the girl, she was alone here.

She drank out of the jug, and sighed quietly. The girl was a strange one. From the first outer look somebody would assume, she was some kind of young noble woman from Ionia as her clothing looked pretty expensive, but 'cheap' at the same time. Most parts of her long legs were exposed, showing her fair skin. And if that wasn't enough her upper body was partly exposed around her neck and chest, too. Her breasts were partly to see, leaving not much room for speculation.

But, if someone wasn't lost in her cleavage, they could see more very strange things on this girl. The first thing somebody would notice were the strange black furry ears of the girl, together with yellowish eyes. Some strange black lines were on her cheeks, which somehow looked like the remains of whiskers. All of these features somehow resembled a fox in a distant way.

But, the by far most prominent feature of this girl was the fluffy tail on her back. Nearly as long as she was with a pure white color. A feature which clearly showed, that she wasn't a normal human. Even though in a world filled with magical creatures, she wasn't that special. Abnormal, but enough human like that she didn't need to fear that somebody would hunt and kill her.

Her name was Ahri. A former fox from the southern parts of Ionia. A fox with a magical connection to the world around her. She still remembered it, even though not really clear, her time as one of them. But, what she remembered clearly was her 'awakening'. The change she made, after entering a battlefield where two armies had fought. Her wish which came true. She became a human.

'A human...but incomplete..', she thought with a sigh, and drank out of the little jug. 'I needed to do this...but why do I feel so bad then?' It took her years to learn as much as she needed to integrate herself into human society. To uphold her humanity, as the last thing she ever wanted was to turn back into a fox, she had stolen the life essences of man and woman alike.

But...after the last times she started to feel a new feeling. A feeling she had never experienced before. Ahri blurry remembered how she killed small rabbits and other animals as a fox, how she took the live essence of her very first victim without hesitation. But, now...

'So, I guess that is what humans are calling...guilt and remorse, right?', she thought with another sigh. There was one positive side on this though...she was becoming more human than ever before. But, on the other side, she couldn't kill anymore people. It felt...wrong to do something like this, only for herself. But, if she didn't continue with it...she would transform back to a fox.

'Damn it...', she thought and slammed one of her hands on the table.

The doors of the inn were suddenly opened and one impressive figure walked inside the building. Ahri changed her sitting position slightly, and looked to the bar. Luckily, from her place she had an excellent view on most parts of the inn.

The girl had long white hair and wore a reddish-silver piece of traditional Ionian armor. Her stance, her gestures. Everything showed that she was a warrior. The most prominent feature were, of course, the hovering blades around her together with the 'Mantle of Decorum', Ionia's highest decoration. Ahri knew that only two people wore this mantle. One of them was Karma, one of Ionia's leaders the other one...

‟Lady Irelia? It's an honor. What brings you here?", the innkeeper quickly said and bowed before the Ionian war heroine. She was still well known for her deeds back then, even though the war was over for years now and the southern provinces freed from Noxus influence.

‟Just a short stop, before I ride on to Placidium", Irelia answered calmly, and walked to the bar. ‟Give me something light. I need a clear head later on." Her blades twirled around midair, before they calmly hovered beside her.

‟Just a moment, Will of the Blades", the innkeeper quickly replied and disappeared behind a curtain into the kitchen.

Ahri watched the girl carefully. Irelia looked calm, yes nearly relaxed. She leaned onto the bar, and looked around in the inn. She smiled shortly and waved at some people, Ahri couldn't see.

Ahri's interest then was drawn towards the swords of her. Four in number, which surrounded something like a small red orb. Ahri had heard stories, when she had visited Placidium not long ago. Stories that these swords weren't only weapons, but instead a part of Irelia's soul. Ahri felt a shiver running down her spine. It was a creepy idea.

After a moment the innkeeper appeared again, carrying a tray with him. He placed it before Irelia, and gave her a small earthen jug. Irelia nodded at him thankfully, and drank out of it.

‟Hm..tastes good", she said with a short smile. ‟What is it?"

‟A special juice made from different fruits", the innkeeper answered her question. He shortly wiped over the counter, before raising his voice again. ‟Well, I know you have much to do..but how is the League? News from there are rare."

'League?' Ahri pricked up her ears and focused on the conversation at the bar. She was somehow happy that she still had the good sense of hearing.

‟Oh, it's a rather busy place you know. Always fighting within the matches, everyday training for the next battles..but it helped us all. It's a small price to pay, when we can uphold peace", Irelia answered amused. ‟Even though getting kicked out of the bed midnight because you're summoned is annoying."

The innkeeper laughed shortly. ‟Oh, I know about this one! My daughters did the same to me when they were small babies", he replied amused, before turning a bit more serious again. ‟So...are they really that powerful, like people say?" Irelia simply nodded.

‟They are. Even more powerful than I would have imagined it. Their magic is beyond my understanding", Irelia answered with a chuckle, before she drank out of her jug again.

'Magic beyond understanding...' That was pretty much everything Ahri wanted to hear. She stood up from her place, and slowly walked over to the bar. The innkeeper had asked another question, and Irelia was answering it. Ahri waited until they were finished, before she stepped closer.

‟Excuse me?", Ahri asked. She spoke with a more normal conversational tone.

‟Yes?", Irelia asked and shortly looked to her side. Her eyes wandered over Ahri's body, the ears and tail. She frowned slightly, but stayed quiet. Even though Ahri saw in her eyes, that she wanted to ask things.

‟I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I've heard something about a..powerful organization called 'League'?", Ahri asked carefully.

‟Have you been living under a rock?", the innkeeper asked amused and Ahri shortly glared at him. It wasn't the first time she heard something like this, but she was annoyed every time again.

‟It's alright", Irelia said, and turned around completely. ‟It's true. The organization is called 'The League of Legends'. Summoners and magicians from all other Runeterra are living inside the walls of the Institute of War. Their goal is to maintain peace on Valoran to stop wars...like the one a few years ago."

‟Are they really that powerful?", Ahri asked curiously. Irelia nodded.

‟They are. Otherwise, the other city states wouldn't subordinate under such an organization...more or less freely on their own accord", Irelia answered her with a short smile. ‟Well, why do you want to know that?"

‟Just interested. Where is it located?"

‟In the middle of the main continent, directly between the borders of Demacia and Noxus. But, allow me a question now", Irelia said and looked at her curiously. Ahri just nodded. ‟What are you exactly? I've never seen someone like you..and within the League you see all kinds of strange creatures."

Ahri bit her tongue, and shortly thought about telling the truth of her whole story. But, she decided against it, and instead she uses the same old made-up story she always told, when somebody asked her.

‟Oh, I'm just an ordinary human. Yes, the ears and tail..well..something gone wrong with a magical experiment. I'm trying to find a way to get back to normal...maybe the League can help me there", she answered. Ahri slightly used a bit of her charming magic, to let her words sound a bit more innocent than normally. Her magic made it easier to convince humans to believe this story without questioning too much.

‟Well, maybe they do. Normally they're not interested in such cases...but, well, I don't want to destroy your hope. What's your name by the way?", Irelia asked and drank out of her jug. Ahri slightly felt relieved, that her little magic trick worked out.

‟My name is Ahri. Nice to meet you", Ahri answered with a wink.

‟Nice to meet you too", Irelia replied, and emptied her jug. ‟Even though I would normally stay a little longer, I need to go now. Karma is awaiting me, and I can't waste more time. If you do want to visit the League, we will see each other again there."

‟Just one more question. How do I get there? I've never left Ionia before", Ahri asked a bit shyly.

‟One of the ships will bring you to Piltover. From there you can either take a zeppelin, the train or a carriage. The latter one isn't so expensive though. Oh, and don't wonder too much about Piltover..all kinds of crazy stuff is going on there", Irelia answered with a smirk.

‟Eh...alright", Ahri simply replied slightly confused. She wondered what could go on in Piltover, if Irelia warned her about it.

‟Good! But, now I need to go. See you around in the League! Good day to you", Irelia said with a smile, and left the tavern her swords by her side.

'Huh...' Ahri thoughtfully tapped against her lips. 'When they're so powerful...maybe they can help me to stay a human.' There wasn't any decision to make. The League was her only hope if she wanted to stay the way she was. Even though it was only a faint hope.

She walked back to her seat, and grabbed a shoulder bag. Within it was nearly everything she possessed, some new clothes together with some trinkets, which she gathered during the time. Ahri turned around and started to walk towards the exit.

‟Hey! You didn't pay!", the innkeeper exclaimed and frowned. Ahri slowly turned around again.

‟Do I really need to do that?", she asked with a playfully voice. Ahri blew him a kiss, and slightly bend forward, giving him a good view on her impressive chest.

‟Uh...fine. Not this time", the innkeeper said. He stared at her chest for a moment, and he wasn't the only one. Some other people looked at her. Ahri literally could see how some started to drool. She giggled quietly and turned around.

‟Thank you..." She swung her hips when she left the tavern. Even though she felt remorse about killing people...she still enjoyed it to wrap them around her fingers. It made things easier for her. Even though she had sometimes heard the word 'bitch' together with her name in one sentence. But, she didn't care.

She heard how one of the men loudly exclaimed: ‟By Piltover's clockworks! That's a woman , I tell you that! Innkeeper! Get me something to cool down again!" Ahri laughed quietly, before she left the tavern completely.

Ahri stepped out into the harbor city of Narbori, which was lying on the southern side of Ionia. Not long ago, this city was the main port for Noxian armies and war machines. From here they would march onward into the mainland, trying to conquer it. For Ahri it didn't matter though.

The city was completely built in the traditional Ionian style, and most of them were painted in red or white colors and had greenish roofs. Some monuments stood within the city. Some of them were built to honor the fallen Ionian soldiers, others honored the war heroes. All in all it was a typical Ionian city.

The tavern, which Ahri had visited, was lying directly in front of the docks and was a well known place for all sailors and passengers. In fact, one of the best in the entire city. Shortly she overlooked the docks. Multiple long landing stages, some cranes which unloaded the ships. Ahri spotted a few Demacian ships together with Piltovian ones.

It was noisy as dozens of sailors yelled orders at each other, the sound some ship engines made and of course the crowd which walked through this part of the city. Hundreds or even thousands of people walked here. Merchants had built up booths wherever a place was left and started to sell their goods reaching from gems and trinkets to fish and clothing. An image of a typical harbor city.

The loud noises were a little bit too much for her ears. Ahri felt a slight headache, but on the other side she felt good. She liked it to be under humans, to see what they were doing. So many different individuals, everyone with other dreams and wishes. It was fascinating.

As she didn't know which ship from the many ones, would take her to Piltover she approached one of the harbor guards. The woman wore a typical set of armor, together with a long spear and sword. A helmet hung at her belt. Her eyes wandered over the passengers, which just left one of the ferries.

‟I'm sorry to bother you", Ahri started the conversation. The guard shortly looked to her side, and eyed her from top to bottom. Ahri smiled at her, hands behind her back.

‟Yes? What do you want?", the guard asked friendly.

‟Which ship will bring me to Piltover?", Ahri asked.

‟You're lucky. It's the one over there", the guard pointed at one big ferry. Multiple flags of Piltover were to see, flying in the wind. The ship was modern and completely painted white. Ahri didn't spot any kind of sails or chimneys on it. ‟You can buy a ticket from one of the sailors, which are waiting before the gangway."

‟Thanks! When will it depart?"

‟In the next fifteen minutes. Like I said you're lucky. The next one would depart in two days", the guard answered with a chuckle. ‟Have a good and safe trip."

‟Thanks again. Have a nice day!" Ahri bowed slightly before the guard, and walked on towards the ferry. She felt somehow excited to see more of this world. Ionia was fascinating enough, even after all these years she hadn't visited every part of it, but now she would see the main continent. Valoran.

She heard stories about the continent. Magical and giant cities, thousands of humans, a land of snowy mountains and ice deserts. Wide and great steppes. She couldn't wait to see every single part of it. But, of course her main goal was to reach the League first. And no matter the cost, when the League could help her, she would willingly do everything they wanted. Okay. _Nearly_ everything.

She looked up, as she walked towards the gangway. Dozens of other passengers were already on board, sailors were doing the last preparations for their departure. Ahri waited in the long line of passengers, which wanted to enter until it was her turn.

‟Next one", the sailor exclaimed loudly, and looked at her for a moment. ‟Alright, one trip to Piltover right? Which class?"

‟Not the most expensive one", Ahri answered friendly. For a moment she thought about using her charm, to get easy access, but she decided against it. Her magic had the slight disadvantage that it didn't last forever, and she hadn't a clue how long this journey would take.

‟Second class. Five gold is it then", the sailor said in a tone, like he said it hundreds of times already.

Ahri shortly grabbed at one of her small pockets and gave him the money. She pushed away the dark thought of how she got this gold, and instead focused on the brighter side of her journey now. The sailor gave her a small paper, on which her cabin number stood and waved.

‟Thank you", Ahri said and entered the monstrous ship. She found a seat at the bow, and dropped her bag beside her. She looked out of the window, onto the wide sea. She listened how some other people talked with each other, their plans and what they wanted to do. Ahri smiled. 'Well...set sail to the League of Legends.'


	2. A New World

**Author's Note**

Let's take a look into Ahri's head a bit more! Sorry for all the Leona fans out there..she will most likely have her entrance in the next chapter! Have fun!

**Chapter 2 **

**A New World **

**A few days later...**

‟Attention to every passenger! We will reach Piltover harbor within the next ten minutes! Pack up and get ready to leave the ferry! If somebody has any questions, next to the docks is a tourist information booth!" The voice of the captain was loud and clear to hear through the entire ship. Ahri flinched every time this happened. He obviously used some kind of magical device.

She stood at the bow of the ship and looked into the distance to the approaching city of Piltover. It was rather early in the morning, but the sun already shone down on her. Ahri felt a breeze on her face. It would be a nice, sunny day. But, her eyes were focused on the approaching city. Once again, she rubbed over them, as she didn't believe what she saw there.

The city was gigantic. Bigger than any other city she had ever seen before. Giant buildings stood closely to each other. They looked like they wanted to touch the sky itself. She saw some monstrous clockwork mechanics which steadily spun, most likely to fuel different kind of engines. But, if that wasn't enough Ahri spotted at least a dozen of zeppelins flying over the city.

Ahri saw hundreds of fast moving objects on the streets. She had overheard a conversation of some passengers, who spoke about vehicles driving without horses and instead using a hextech engine. She already felt slightly overwhelmed by this city. Everything was just so...different and strange. It was like another world in which she was just thrown in without knowing anything.

'So, that's why Irelia said I shouldn't wonder too much about Piltover..', Ahri thought and walked over to the gangway, her bag on her side. She took a deep breath and prepared herself mentally for her journey through this unknown continent. 'Well...it's not the first time that I integrate myself into a new society', she thought slightly amused.

Ahri felt a slight jolt running through the whole ship, as it hit the pier. She leaned on the reeling and watched the sailors, doing their work. Some threw ropes down, while others who waited on the pier started to moor the ship. Orders were yelled at each other, before the ship finally came to an halt. Some sailors pushed the gangway towards the exit, where Ahri was already waiting.

‟Alright! Welcome in Piltower, the City of Progress! Everyone please leave the ship and don't forget your personal belongings! Have a nice day!", the captain yelled again through the entire ferry.

Ahri walked down the gangway, and looked around for a moment. The harbor was far better organized then the one from Narbori. Directly before the landing stages were a huge open place left, where some of those vehicles stood and drove. Behind it the main city already started. The buildings here weren't that big, even though some were already higher than most Ionian structures.

Even though it was rather early the streets here were already crowded with people. Most of them looked like workers or sailors, while some others were..well..better dressed than the average one. Are already started to like this city, just because of the great variety. Her curiosity took over. 'Well..I have some time left I guess...', she thought. In a good mood, she started to walk.

Ahri just couldn't stop being amazed. She walked through the main street of Piltover, the heart of the city. The whole street was a pedestrian area, and thousands of people already seemed to walk here. Some of them looked at her curiously when she passed them, but nobody asked anything. It was like they were used to all kinds of creatures already.

Left and right from her were the giant skyscrapers, reaching heights she wouldn't have imagined. Giant shops were opened, and sold nearly everything reaching from hextech devices Ahri had never seen, to clothing and everything else needed for everyday life. Booths stood around within the street selling something to eat or trinkets of all kinds.

'Wow...', Ahri thought and continued to walk through the street. She stopped at one main square with a giant fountain in the middle of it. Some restaurants and cafes surrounded the place and people sat outside, enjoying the day, chatting with each other. The only thing which disrupted the peace was the distant sound of driving vehicles, and clockwork mechanics. But, the Piltovians seemed to be used to it.

Ahri stopped close to the fountain and found a sign. It took her a moment to decipher the words, as Ionia had another style of writing. 'Carriages..train station', she read on it. 'Huh...what are trains? Time to find out I guess!', she thought and followed the signs through the city.

But, it took her far longer than she would have expected. It was easy to forget why someone was walking on these streets. So many shops, so many distractions. Theaters, something called 'cinemas', more shops. Ahri was nearly stunned. She stopped multiple times before some shop windows, where clothing was sold. 'Could use a new dress huh?', she thought amused, before forcing herself to go on. She couldn't waste too much time.

After nearly an hour of walking, she finally reached the train station. It was a big building, combined with a giant clock tower, showing the exact time. It was the biggest building in this area, as Ahri had passed the last skyscraper nearly fifteen minutes ago. Since then the cityscape changed to smaller buildings and houses.

Without hesitation Ahri stepped into the building and looked around curiously. Hundreds of people were around within the giant waiting hall, some souvenir shops were built up too. Another giant clock hung on the inside, together with a giant destination board which showed from which platform the trains departed to different parts of Valoran.

Ahri spotted some uniformed humans, who slowly walked through the hall. They somehow looked like 'guards' in some way. They wore jackets with a white lettering which said: Police. Suddenly, she heard metallic steps within the hall, and turned around to the exit. Ahri flinched slightly, and stumbled backwards in a moment of surprise.

Two other officers stepped into the waiting hall, but beside them stood three 'metal man' like things. Their whole body was made out of some kind of metal, and they distantly looked human even though their body parts were strangely stretched. Everyone of them had blue glowing eyes and mouths. They slowly watched over the crowd, one of them stopped at her and eyes her longer.

Ahri swallowed. She felt a shiver running down her spine. These..things seemed to be artificial. She couldn't feel any life essence within them. Not a soul. Nothing. The only thing she felt were traces of some kind of magic. The thing seemed to lose its interest in her, and just turned around again following the others.

Ahri licked her lips, and turned around as well. 'Wuah..these things are creepy...I hope I never have to see them again', she thought and tried to focus on more essential things right now. She looked up onto the giant board, and searched the correct platform. It took her a moment to understand the dozens of times, numbers and letters, but then she found it. 'Platform one..departure in...ten minutes. Oh, I'm lucky with times.'

Quickly she jogged through the long corridors, another staircase up to platform one. The train was...well it was different than Ahri would have imagined it. It was a construction made out of metal, wood and hextech technology. Ahri smelt some kind of steam in the air. The platform was filled with people who entered the train right at this moment.

With a shrug Ahri entered as well, and searched for a free seat. Some people still looked at her, and she felt how some kids touched her tail within the crowd, but she didn't mind it. After a moment of searching, she found a free place, and sat down on the comfortable leather.

She looked out of the window, and watched how the last people got in. Then she heard a loud whistle, and with a slight jolt the train started to move, quickly gaining speed. 'Here we go...'

Ahri watched as the scenery slowly changed. From a giant city, to the suburbs of Piltover. Her mind started to drift away. 'I really hope the League can help me...if not...I don't know what I can do...' She felt exhausted. The long time on the sea wasn't easy for her. She wasn't someone who lived on the water. Her eyes got heavier, and then she just fell in a dreamless sleep.

**A few hours later...**

A sudden movement of the train let Ahri wake with a start. For a moment she had forgotten where she was, before she realized that she was still sitting within the train from Piltover. She blinked a few times to get a clear view of her surroundings. Right from here sat other passengers, but the other seats around her were still free.

Ahri suppressed a yawn, and looked out of the window. The scenery had dramatically changed. Where Piltover was surrounded by green grassland and small forests, what Ahri saw now was dreary. Plain, wide steppes. Only here and there were some small bushes and withered trees. It was mostly wasteland, nearly a desert.

She saw how some dust was whirled up by a sudden gust of wind, and how some withered bushes rolled over the steppe. Ahri's eyes wandered into the distance where she spotted some giant mountains. It was the only impressive sight.

With nothing to distract her, she started to think about her little problem again. What would she do, if the League actually couldn't help her? She didn't know how long it would take to transform back...and even if she transformed back would she feel it? She couldn't remember her time as a fox clearly. So, would everything she had experienced up to this point.. would it be nothing more than a blurry dream?

She let out a quiet sigh. She needed to believe that the League could help her! Before she could dwell on her dark thoughts, she felt something at her right furry ear. Like someone touched and massaged it slightly. Normally she would enjoy it, but right now...

‟Hey!", she exclaimed and turned around from the window, only to see a young girl, which instantly jumped back from her in surprise, and raised her arms.

‟Sorry! Sorry! Sorry..please don't eat me or something like this!", the girl said loudly.

‟I'm very sorry lady. I didn't pay attention to my daughter for a minute..", a older looking woman said, who appeared in the corridor between the seats. Ahri blinked a few times slightly confused.

‟Eh..it's alright", she looked down at the little girl, and smiled. ‟I will not eat you, if you tell me what you were doing there." The girl looked up.

‟Well..eh..you seemed to be asleep, and I already saw you when we left Piltover...I ehh..I just wanted to touch your ears! I just wanted to know if they're real!", the girl exclaimed, and looked down onto the ground. Her face was a bit reddish.

‟Oh, Sarah..", the mother of the girl said, and sighed slightly. Ahri just started to laugh.

‟Well, they are real. And the tail is real too. And I mean why would someone dress like this?", she asked with a broad grin before she explained. ‟It was an experiment which failed. I'm hoping that the League of Legends can help me with this."

‟Daddy's working there! He's one of the guards working for the League!", the girl said, her voice sounded proud of this simple fact.

‟I'll guess he's doing a great job then", Ahri replied amused. And the girl nodded seriously.

‟Of course he does! And when we arrive he will show me the city and the League!", the girl said excited, with dreamy eyes. The mother laughed quietly.

‟Oh, Sarah it's good now. Come with me...you didn't finish what I asked you", the mother said in a serious tone, even though Ahri heard that it was only theater.

‟Aww..man. Do I really? Gosh..alright then. Bye fox lady! And I don't think you need to change your ears! They're looking pretty cool!", the girl exclaimed before she ran off through the train.

‟I'm sorry again", the mother said. Ahri just waved.

‟It's fine..", she bowed slightly before the woman in a gesture of respect. The woman smiled at her, before she turned around to follow her daughter.

'Don't change the ears huh', Ahri thought and moved them slightly around. She sighed and looked out of the window again, watching the passing landscape. Somehow she envied the little girl. She was born as a human, she would live and die as one. Not like her. A mix of fox and human. She didn't want to be a hybrid. All what she wanted...was to become a real human nothing less. 'Why? Why was I born like this?', she asked herself again and again. She knew she would never find an answer.

**One hour later...**

‟Next stop: The League of Legends! Last stop so please leave the train!", it came out of one of the many speakers, hanging directly above the leather seats. Ahri heard how the brakes squeaked, and slowly got up from her seat. She looked outside, and saw the first buildings on the outskirts of the city, before they slowly drove deeper within the city.

Here most of them were built in a mix of Demacian and Noxian architecture, which meant that most buildings looked like half-timbered houses. But, some had clear Piltover influences on them with strange hextech devices. It looked like people from nearly every city state lived within this city.

The train stopped and the doors opened. Again, Ahri was one of the first who left it and entered nearly an identical train station, like the one in Piltover. It seemed the same engineers worked here...or Piltovians were not very creative. Ahri decided that the latter one was the case.

As she stepped out of the station, she was greeted by the loud noise of an ongoing market. Merchants shouted and tried to underbid each other. It was combined with the sound of hundreds of boots and talking of people. Ahri looked around. The train station seemed to be built directly within the city more or less central.

The people here were dressed in various ways. Some wore the typical Demacian colors, others modern looking suits, and others again street wear which was typical for Zaun. They didn't seem to pay much attention to each other, sometimes they glared over to their rivals, but that's it. Ahri was somehow surprised. She had heard that the people from the mainland normally fought each other, when they met somewhere.

After a moment of aimless wandering, Ahri found some signs which showed her the way to the League. 'So the League is...there?' She looked up at the mountain and saw a giant staircase, which led to some kind of building which seemed to be built directly within the mountain itself. With a somehow slightly annoyed sigh, she pushed herself through the crowd.

When she reached the first step of the staircase, Ahri felt excitement within her. A tension she had never experienced before. Now it would be decided. Her destiny awaited her at the end of these stairs. Resolutely she began the ascension of the staircase.

Step by step she got higher. The loud noise of the city slowly vanished, and was replaced by the quiet howling of the wind. Shortly she looked over her shoulder and watched the landscape. She clearly saw the tracks which left the city in every possible direction. She also saw some giant mountains in the distance, but the most prominent feature was of course the boring steppe.

Some people passed her on her way up. Man and woman in long purple and blue robes. Some nodded at her, others eyed her curiously. But, all of them greeted her with the same respect. 'That must be these so called summoners...', Ahri thought. She felt the magic surrounding them. She had felt it before. It was the same magical aura, the dying summoner had back on the battlefield.

When she finally climbed up the last step, she took a deep breath and looked around in the main hall. She couldn't hold back her astonishment. The entrance hall looked like it was directly beaten into the mountain. Giant pillars held the natural ceiling, she spotted dozens of stalactites hanging from it. Within this hall many people stood around and talked with each other. She saw Demacians, Noxians, Ionians, summoners and even some yordles.

Just as she walked a few steps within this hall, she felt the magical energy within the whole building. It was a powerful magic, something she had never felt before. Even though her doubts were slowly put to a rest, she stayed calm.

One of the summoners spotted her how she aimlessly walked through the entrance hall. A small man in a purple robe and a hood, which hid most parts of his face. He looked up to her, and started to speak.

‟Welcome at the Institute of War. How can I help you? And who are you? I have never seen you before." His voice was friendly and warm.

Ahri took a deep breath, before she answered. ‟My name is Ahri. And I'm here because I search for help for a personal problem. If you want more information...we should speak in private." She didn't want to explain the whole story before everyone within this hall. Especially not before some Ionians or Demacians. She heard the latter ones had a very strict code about order and justice. And..well, her actions weren't _that_ righteous.

‟I will speak with a High Summoner about your concern. Until then you should wait here", the summoner simply replied and turned around. He walked inside the Institute and left Ahri alone.

She blinked a few times, rather surprised by his actions. No other questions? Nothing? She should just wait here? 'Well...alright', Ahri thought and placed her arms behind her back. She could wait, she had the time. She felt some eyes on her, who watched and eyed her from top to bottom. Playfully she moved her tail and ears, and winked at some passing summoners and champions.

After a few minutes the summoner came back, accompanied by another older looking man. He had a long white beard, and just like the other summoners he covered his face. Even though he seemed to be old, Ahri still felt an incredible power within him. A power which overshadowed everything else within this hall. Somehow she felt petty in his presence.

‟Ahri is your name right?", he asked. His voice was strong, commanding and didn't show any sign of age at all.

‟Yes, it is", Ahri answered calmly.

‟We talked about your concern. Follow me into the Reflection Chambers..there we will talk about everything else", the summoners said. He slowly turned around and started to walk deeper into the mountain and the Institute.

Ahri clenched her fists and followed him. She didn't have anything to lose, so she would just do what she was told to do.

They went deeper and deeper into the building. The light was getting weaker with every step they made, until only a few torches and some glowing magical inscriptions on the walls were left. The loud noise from the entrance hall vanished too. The only thing which was to hear, were their steps.

Ahri didn't dare to ask any questions. After another moment, they stopped before two giant stone doors. Ahri shortly regarded them. They showed different crystals, magical runes she had never seen before and three persons. All of them hid their faces with hoods, and each one carried a staff with him. They seemed to look down onto everyone who wanted to enter these chambers. Ahri felt...uneasy. It was like someone looked directly into her head.

Suddenly, the giant stone doors opened slowly. The loud noise was somehow unfitting. Ahri nervously licked her lips. The chamber behind these doors...was completely dark. Only a small circle of light was in the middle of it, the rest seemed to be...only nothingness.

‟Step into the circle of light. Then we start with our talking", the summoner said encouraging.

‟If you insist...", Ahri said plainly and walked through the giant doors. She stayed alert, and summoned a blue orb into her right hand. A magical ball made out of pure energy. Normally it was enough to light up even the darkest places, but within this chamber everything seemed to stay black, what didn't help much to feel better or more relaxed.

Ahri carefully stepped into the circle of light...and everything around her started to change...


	3. The Judgment

**Author's Note**

Every nation has its dark sides. Let us explore Ionia's! :P And first contact between our main heroines! Have Fun!

**Chapter 3 **

**The Judgment **

It was still early in the evening, but the sky was already filled with stars and the full round moon was high above her. She was walking through one of the best districts of Placidium. The place where the high class people lived, the magicians worked and Ionia's leader had their seats. The buildings left and right from her, where high and modern. Taverns, inns and shops. Most of them in the upper price range.

The person who walked through these streets, was surprisingly unfitting for this place. As if the long white tail and furry ears weren't enough, the young woman also wore shortcut clothing, which perfectly draw attention to her well built body. Mostly of course her slim waist and..well impressive rack.

Ahri felt the eyes of some people on her. Some were just curious about her, others shocked how shameless she was, and some others again leered at her. The latter ones were the most interesting persons of course, as they were easier to convince to..follow her wherever she wanted to go with them. The promise of an exciting adventure, was everything needed. And if that wasn't enough her body and magic would help out.

Seducing people, wrapping them around her fingers and play with them was so much fun. Feeding on their desires, and then giving them a sweet death. Ahri giggled quietly to herself. 'Time to play', she thought amused.

Her goal was clear before her. The 'Shrouded Inn'. At least that was the name the owner had given to it. It was somehow fitting. What happened behind these doors remained a secret, it remained shrouded before the public. A inn where someone could get anything, they wanted. Things which the Ionian community officially despised. But, everyone needed a little bit fun from time to time.

She stepped into the inn without hesitation, the guards at the entrance just nodded at her. She was already a well known guest of this establishment. Inside, she looked around for a moment. Some man and woman sat on tables and quietly talked with each other, while scantily dressed waitresses attended them. One of them recognized her, and bowed slightly. Ahri shortly greeted her with a smile.

The whole place was rather dim. The few paper lanterns were not enough to illuminate the whole taproom, so there were some dark corners. In these corners, some merchants sold goods with a doubtful origin.

'So...who is the happy one today?', Ahri thought amused, and curiously eyed some of the sitting man and woman. Most of them seemed to be some kind of businessman, others wore traditional Ionia clothing, worn by some of the administrators. 'That will be easy today...'

Ahri walked towards the bar, and ordered something to drink. That was the moment when she spotted a person, sitting alone at one table. Ahri clicked her tongue. It was a woman, wearing form-fitting clothing which presented her muscular and well trained body. She was most likely some kind of soldier. Ahri saw how the soldier looked at some of the waitresses with great interest. 'Mhm...let's give it a try..'

Ahri grabbed the small earthen jug and walked over to the soldier. She placed her jug on the table, and leaned on it in a somehow inviting gesture. The woman made no secret that she was interested in Ahri. Her eyes wandered over her body up and down, shortly stopped at her breasts and face.

‟Good evening soldier" Ahri spoke quietly with a seducing voice, she often used in such situations. She sat down beside the girl, her thighs were touching each other.

‟Hello there sweetie", the soldier replied with a quiet click of her tongue. ‟Getting closer already, huh?"

‟Oh, am I too fast?", Ahri replied, her voice now more innocent. ‟If that's the matter..."

‟No, no it's alright", the soldier said amused, and drank out of her glass. Ahri saw that her face was slightly red, she was obviously drunk. ‟What brings you here? You're looking like you would work here."

Ahri felt one of the soldier's hands on her leg. 'How easy...', she thought. ‟I'm not working here..I'm just here for a little bit of fun...", she answered, her voice was nothing more than a whisper, empowered with her charming magic. She saw how the soldier slightly shivered under her. Her long fingers started to wander over the muscular body of the girl, over her abs and hips up to her arms. The soldier let out a quiet sigh.

‟And what are you doing here? Such a strong soldier? I assume..a war hero?", Ahri whispered again and playfully bit the ear of the girl. She felt excited. The life essence of this soldier was strong. Consuming it would be a great step forward for her goal to become a real human.

‟Just passing the time. I'm not on duty right now", the soldier answered quietly. She licked over her lips nervously. ‟Oh, and I'm not a hero...I just finished training a few days ago."

‟Oh, a new one and then in such a place?", Ahri replied. Her voice sounded sultry, inviting.

‟Well...you could call it a celebration for my graduation", the soldier answered. Her hand wandered around Ahri's hips, gently stroking her. Ahri felt that she could do one more step. The soldier made no secret, that she obviously wanted a bit more from Ahri.

‟You wanna play with me? I know I want to play...", Ahri whispered into her ear.

She heard how the soldier inhaled sharply at her words. The soldier shuddered slightly as Ahri's hands wandered over her arms and shoulders. But, then she simply nodded. ‟Alright..", the word was nothing more than a sigh, ‟let's play then..."

‟No need to hold back...", Ahri whispered and stood up, grabbing one hand of the soldier. They passed the bar, the innkeeper shortly nodded at both of them.

Together they walked up the stairs. Ahri opened one of the many doors, and they walked into one small room. The two only things inside were a leather armchair and a big comfortable bed. Some candles and paper lanterns lit up the room. Ahri closed the door behind her, and then pushed the soldier onto the chair.

With a quick motion Ahri sat down on the lap of the girl, her foreheads were touching each other. ‟Mhm...give me a kiss...", she whispered to the girl. It was hard for her to control herself. She wanted to rip the life essence out of her body, but not yet. She would play with her, turn her on. 'Patience..', she thought.

But, then something happened she didn't expect. The soldier leaned back her head and slammed it against her own. Ahri was sent onto the ground, with a surprised scream of pain. The soldier quickly stood up, and with her right hand she grabbed Ahri's neck and pulled her forcefully back up onto her feet, pressing her against the wall.

_'That's false!'_, Ahri suddenly thought. This was not the way the memory was supposed to go! She remembered it clearly! She stole the life essence of this girl after the kiss, she killed her! But, as soon as she did it, she had felt it for the first time. She had felt remorse for doing so. This was the point where her morality started to evolve.

‟Is that all you are without your body?", the soldier asked her. Her voice was serious, commanding. Nothing was left from before.

Ahri tried to answer, but the grip around her neck was too tight. Her vision slowly got blurry. She tried to push the soldier away, but she was physically far stronger than her. With one final attempt she summoned a blue orb in her right hand. ‟No...", she answered quietly and weak. The orb within her hand exploded, and sent the soldier flying through the room, hitting the armchair.

Ahri fell down from the wall, and hit the ground. She coughed and gasped for air. She heard how the soldier started to laugh. Everything around them suddenly started to change. The room disappeared into nothing, and then they were back. They were back in the dark chamber. Ahri was still sitting on the ground. She looked up, only to see the soldier, not far away from here. She stood in another circle of light, looking down on her.

‟Why do you want to join the League, Ahri?", she asked calmly.

‟Join the League? What do you mean? What happened just a second ago?!", Ahri exclaimed confused. She coughed again, and slowly got up. ‟I never intended to join the League! I'm here because I search for help."

‟I know about this. You're feeling remorse and guilt for killing all these people", the soldier answered. Ahri confusion grew.

‟Wait..you knew about this? What is this place?"

‟These chambers are the Reflection Chambers. It shows your past, one crucial point of it. The point in which something changed for you", the soldier answered calmly. ‟The League..can help you."

‟Wait...does that mean...you have looked into my head? You have seen everything?!", she exclaimed angrily. But, the soldier didn't answer her.

‟The League can help you with your problem. Under one condition: You're joining the League as a new champion", she simply stated and looked at Ahri. ‟So let me ask you again: Why do you want to join the League, Ahri?"

Ahri looked down onto the ground for a moment, thinking about her situation. There wasn't any choice to make. Working for the League would be a small price to pay, if she could maintain her humanity without further harm. She took a deep breath. ‟I want to join the League to become a human. I don't want to kill more people...that's...not right...", she answered calmly.

‟How does it feel, exposing your mind?", the soldier asked her amused.

‟Unwelcome. But when it's necessary..", Ahri simply answered the question. She already started to hate the fact, that the League may now know everything about her. Every sin, everything she had committed during the years after her awakening.

The soldier just grinned and then suddenly vanished together with the circle of light surrounding her. Ahri heard how the stone doors behind her started to open again. She took a deep breath and turned around, looking into the dim light behind these doors. She would now serve the League. She didn't know what to expect, but whatever it was, she would prepare herself for it.

Just as she stepped out of the dark chamber she heard a female voice which loudly proclaimed: ‟Welcome in the League of Legends: Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox."

**A few minutes later...**

Ahri walked back into the main hall, and stretched her arms. The hall was now rather empty, and she saw how the sun started to set in the distance. 'How long did it take?', she thought and shortly rubbed over her head. She felt dizzy, overwhelmed by everything. It was simply too much for one day.

She watched as a few magical runes and lights flashed, and illuminated the darkening hall. 'So..what next?', she thought confused. Her question was answered by a quiet grumble of her stomach. She hadn't eaten since the morning on the ferry, so it was no wonder.

‟You seemed to be a bit lost...", a female voice said from her right side. Ahri turned around and looked at the person, who stood there.

The young woman was obviously some kind of warrior, maybe even someone like a hero. Brown-reddish hair surrounded her suntanned face, which showed a warm and welcoming smile. Ahri was fascinated from her amber colored eyes, which slowly wandered over Ahri's body, regarding her carefully.

The girl wore impressive, and heavy looking golden armor which was decorated with some symbols, which distantly reminded Ahri of a compass or a stylized sun. Where she didn't wear armor, the girl wore some kind of purple gambeson under it. Ahri clearly saw her muscular and well trained body. In her left hand the warrior carried a big shield, nearly as big as herself, together with a big long sword on her back. Both of these weapons were in the same color scheme like her armor.

‟Lost? Well, kinda. I'm new here, so it's normal I think", Ahri answered the question friendly.

‟Oh, a new champion? Normally there is something like a proclamation when someone new arrives...guess it happened when I was still busy", the girl replied with a smile. ‟My name is Leona, the Radiant Dawn. Or at least that's how the League is calling me."

‟My name is Ahri, and yes, I assume I'm a new champion from now on." Ahri bowed slightly before her in a gesture of respect. She felt the life essence of this girl. It was stronger than anything she had ever felt before. 'But, I don't need to worry about this anymore..'

‟So do you need help with something? The League can be slightly overwhelming in the beginning", Leona asked with a chuckle.

‟Eh...you could tell me where I can get something to eat", Ahri answered amused. Leona laughed quietly.

‟Well, I'm on my way to the mess right now", Leona replied. ‟Follow me then." She turned around and started to walk, Ahri directly behind her.

Their way led them through long corridors, and giant halls. Most walls were decorated with magical runes and symbols, Ahri had never seen before. But, she felt the magic within them. Leona before her seemed to be in a good mood, as she quietly hummed. Often enough, they met some summoners, who greeted them respectfully.

After a short walk they arrived before another giant door, a bit like the ones down before the chamber. Even though this one was slightly less decorated. It opened before them, and they stepped into the giant mess hall.

The hall was impressive. The left side of it was completely made out of glass. Ahri could actually look outside, but the only thing she saw was partly the town at the foot of the mountain and the wide steppes. Even though right now even that was hard to see, as it was completely dark already and the moon and stars were to see.

Ahri's view wandered back inside the mess. On the ceiling some magical lights floated, illuminating the hall in a warm light. A few giant, long stone tables together with long fitting benches were standing around. The entire place was crowded already. Summoners and champions alike sat here and chatted with each other. Of course most of them were separated from each other city state.

Ahri spotted some impressive figures under these champions. A giant bull sat at one table, talking with a summoner. At another table sat another woman. Her lower body looked distantly like a snake, while her upper body was human like. Some of the people looked at her for a moment, but all in all no one paid that much attention to her.

‟Hey, Leona! Outstanding performance in the last match!", one Demacian said loudly, and bowed his head before her.

‟Good enough, I guess. We had a good team", Leona replied with a chuckle, before turning around to Ahri. ‟Well, here we are. The mess hall of the League. Want to sit with me?"

‟Well, why not?" Ahri shrugged shortly. It would be good to have someone, she could ask everything she wanted to know. She had heard that the League had dozens of different rules a champion needed to follow.

They walked through the hall, grabbed two trays and filled it with something to eat. Ahri was surprised for a moment by the ample choice of food. Leona led her to a seat, a bit farther away from the main crowd where they could talk with each other.

‟So...do you have any questions?", Leona asked her friendly, as she started to eat.

‟Well...how does it work here? I've never heard much about the League...I heard about the whole thing only a few days ago", Ahri answered calmly. She grabbed one small jug and drank out of it. The delicious taste of sake. She was surprised that the League had something like this here.

‟It's rather easy. You're a champion and you fight in a match on the Fields of Justice. You fight there, you're killing the other champions, destroying the tower and the nexus and you win. When you're not fighting..you have free time and, at least in the theory, you can do what do you want", Leona explained shortly with a broad grin.

Ahri blinked a few times. Leona started to laugh quietly at her reaction. ‟Was that description a little bit too short?", she asked amused.

‟Only a little bit", Ahri answered slightly confused. ‟So..we kill each other here?", she added carefully. That felt somehow...wrong. She joined the whole Institute, because she didn't want to continue with her killing.

‟Yeah. It took me awhile to get used to it", Leona answered calmly. ‟But, it's not 'real' killing. Yes, it is still bloody and brutal from time to time. But, the League prevents our deaths by using their magic. As long as we're summoned on the Fields of Justice...we can't die. But, you will experience it soon enough. It's hard to describe."

Ahri felt somehow cheated. ‟I thought serving the League would be a bit...brighter", she replied frustrated. ‟I don't like killing other humans. It's wrong to do so."

‟It is. We have something in common here. I think that the true worth of a warrior is not killing, but the ability to protect and defend", Leona explained, with a smile. ‟But, you get used to it with the time. Even though I don't need to do it so often...my job is to protect my allies on the Fields not going on a killing spree", she said amused. ‟Well, what is your specialty?", Leona added just like an afterthought.

‟Specialty? What do you mean?"

‟Well, what can you do? As you don't have any weapons...I assume you use magic?", Leona asked her with a chuckle. ‟The League differs its champions into categories. Marksman, fighter, mage and so on. I am a tank for example. I protect and support my team during the battle."

‟I assume I am a mage then...magic is the only weapon I really have", Ahri answered, before she realized something. She had never been in a real battle before. Yes, sometimes she got into small fights, but there she just used her orb to defend herself. Now...she would fight a real battle, a battle where she actually could...die. Even though she had stolen the life essence of so many people...she always used seduction as her 'weapon' of choice. Not destructive magic abilities.

‟You're looking uneasy. You're alright?", Leona asked her worried.

‟It's just..I was never in a real battle before", Ahri answered the question slowly.

‟Don't worry too much about it. You will have some training matches before you're sent onto the real Fields", Leona said encouraging. ‟I guess the first one will take place tomorrow."

‟Already? Well, that's fast", Ahri said surprised. She thought she would have some more time to learn everything she needed to know. But, it seemed like they League would just throw her into the action right away.

‟They don't waste much time with it..", Leona replied smiling, before she eyed Ahri again, interested. ‟But, you have to answer me a question. What are you exactly? You have furry ears, a tail. You're looking pretty interesting."

Ahri bit her underlip and thought about her options for a moment. She thought about telling the same lie again, but she honestly wasn't very sure about it anymore. But, on the other side she couldn't openly talk about how she had killed so many people just for herself.

‟You don't have to answer, if you don't want to", Leona said calmly. ‟I don't have any rights to push you, to talk about something you don't like."

‟No..no. It's alright", Ahri quickly replied. She would tell the truth. Well..even though only half the story. She cleared her throat before she started. ‟I was once a fox in the southern parts of Ionia."

‟A fox?", Leona interrupted surprised. ‟I've heard many different stories during my time here..but this is new." She smiled at her, and made a gesture that she could continue.

‟Well...I don't have any clear memories of this time, to be honest. But, what I know is that I always had something like a magical connection to the world around me. Someday I entered a battlefield..and well...I don't know what exactly happened, but as I approached one half dead summoner my body started to transform. And well..when I woke up again, I was a human", Ahri explained. It was strange to talk about this topic. She had never told this to anyone.

Leona listened very carefully, before she raised her voice. ‟Well...what can I say?", she asked a bit helplessly, and raised her arms. ‟So you were once a fox..and now a human. But, I presume not a complete one?" Leona said that with a friendly, warm tone. It was obvious, that she tried her best not to hurt Ahri in any way, and Ahri felt thankful for it.

‟Yep. That's why I have those ears and other fox characteristics on me", Ahri answered a bit more confident now. ‟I thought that the League could help me with my problem...maybe when I serve the Institute, I can finally become a complete human."

‟I have seen so much in this building...that this sounds very likely to happen", Leona said encouraging and with a grin. There was a short silence between them, before Ahri's curiosity took over again.

‟So, what's your story then?", Ahri asked interested.

‟Well, I'm from Mount Targon", Leona started to explain. ‟I originally belong to the Rakkor tribe. A tribe of warriors living on top of these mountains."

‟Describe it to me. You know..during my entire time, this is actually the first time, I left Ionia", Ahri explained and looked at Leona. She was inquisitive for knowledge. Everything was so new to her, and everything she could learn was good.

‟Mount Targon is a cold, harsh place. The mountain tops are covered with snow the entire year. Howling winds which cut through your bones, scarce sources of food. Sometimes the winters are so harsh, that our villages were covered in snow", Leona explained. Before her inner eye Ahri saw these mountains, the deep snow. She felt the wind howling around her.

‟Ionia isn't the warmest place during the entire year...but this sounds cold even for me", Ahri replied amused.

‟You get used to it, if you live there. The summers are pleasant..you can even go swim", Leona said and winked at her. ‟But, well the most important point on Mount Targon is its peak."

‟What is there?"

‟The residence and temple of the Solari. I belong to them now as a chosen of the sun", Leona answered. Her voice didn't show any sign of arrogance because of this fact. It was more casual.

She wasn't like some summoners Ahri met who were arrogant, because of their inherent gift of magic and started to brag with their gift at any chance.

‟Chosen of the sun? What does that me..." Before Ahri could finish her sentence, a blue light surrounded Leona. She instantly grabbed her weapons, and quickly took a last bite of her bread.

‟I'll explain it to you later", Leona quickly replied with a smile.

‟What's happening?", Ahri asked rather surprised. The magic she felt was strong. She recognized it. It was some sort of teleportation spell.

‟I'm getting summoned again. The summoner better have a good explanation for this...normally they're telling you when you get summoned the next time and you have some rest time between matches. Well..see you tomorrow, Ahri!", Leona exclaimed.

‟Yeah. See you tomorrow, Leona!", Ahri quickly replied, and then Leona just vanished into thin air.

With a sigh Ahri ate the rest of her food, while thinking about the situation. The League was a far different place than she would have ever imagined it. Killing and fighting seemed to be daily routine here.

But, at least there were some positive sides of it. She wouldn't need to continue with her life essence stealing and she already made..well..something like a friend. That would be the first real friend she ever had. 'Hm...so not everything is bad. I should hang on to her...she seems to know everything about this place', Ahri thought.

Suddenly, she heard a male voice behind her.

‟Sorry, to disturb you. You are Ahri, the new champion?", the summoner asked her. Ahri turned around on her seat and nodded.

‟I am. What is the matter?" She stood up and grabbed her bag, looking down onto the smaller summoner.

‟I'm ordered to lead you to your room if you're finished with eating", he simply stated. His voice sounded emotionless, like he was nothing more than a servant.

‟Eh..thanks? I'm finished, so we can go", Ahri replied confused.

With that they both left the mess and walked again through the long halls and corridors of the League. They passed multiple doors on their way, everyone with a different symbol and name on it. Ahri recognized a few of them. 'Irelia, Will of the Blades...Karma, The Enlightened One...Master Yi, the Wuju Bladesman..', she read in her head. They all were from Ionia.

‟Here we are. Make yourself at home...and a good night", the summoner said and walked away, leaving her alone. Ahri didn't even have the time to thank him.

With a shrug, she entered her own room, and instantly felt at home. Her room was a typical Ionian one, even though with influences from Demacia and Noxus. A few windows let her look outside over the wide steppes. The main room was comfortable. Armchairs, a cupboard and a small table were the only furniture. Ahri also spotted a television, or at least she thought it was called like this. She heard that she could observe League matches with these things, but she had never seen one before.

Ahri walked over to some slide doors, decorated with typical Ionian symbols. One of them led her to a small kitchen, the other one into a bathroom and the last one into a rather big and comfortable bedroom. All in all, her room was pretty big, enough for a single person to live in.

She opened the cupboard, and somehow wasn't surprised what she found within it. New clothing, which nearly looked identical to the one she wore now, even though far newer. 'Well...', she thought. She liked it already. Here she could really feel at home, something she didn't have for a long time.

Ahri closed the entrance door, and dropped her back. She thought about taking a shower first, but her body told her otherwise. She now realized how exhausted she really was. 'What a day...ferry, train, judgment...and an interesting new person in my life.'

She closed the slide door behind her, and threw herself onto the bed. It was comfortable and soft. 'Let's see what will happen tomorrow..', was the last thing in her head, before she fell asleep.


	4. Demonstration of Power

**Author's Note**

Summoner's Rift within this story is partly using the new visual update from the PBE AND inspirations from 'New Dawn'. (For example: Red minions instead of purple ones) Just so you don't get confused. Oh, and this chapter is long. I tried my best to cut it short, but that was hard q.q

**Chapter 4 **

**Demonstration of Power **

The warm rays of the sun were tingling on her nose, and slowly let her wake up. Ahri opened her eyes, and blinked a few times to get a clear view of her surroundings. She lay on her side, on her tail to be exact, which she often used as a comfortable pillow. Some things never changed, no matter how much human she became.

She looked to a small nightstand, and looked at some small clock which stood there. Eight o'clock in the morning. Rather early for her own standards. For a short moment, Ahri wondered if she had already overslept some important things. Probably not.

She rolled on her back, and yawned quietly. She slept well, better than the last weeks and days where she was haunted by nightmares. Long dead people who followed her through dark corridors, some shadowy figures which stole her magical abilities and turned her back into a fox. All in all not one single night was very pleasant for her.

'So..the League helped me to handle with this problem after all..', she thought, and slowly got out of the bed, pushing away the blankets. She stretched her arms and legs and yawned again. She felt completely relaxed and fit for the upcoming day.

Humming she walked over to the cupboard, and grabbed one of the new dresses for her. The same cut, the same coloration. 'Well...they have a really good sense of proportion', she thought amused. She was in a good mood. Everything seemed to turn out well at least. Well, at least somehow. There was still the whole thing with the Fields of Justice and fighting, but well...she integrated herself once, she could do it again.

After taking a long, hot shower and putting on her new dress, she left her room. Taking a breakfast wouldn't be the worst idea, after that one summoner, guard or champion would surely tell her what to do next. Secretly, she hoped to meet Leona again. The girl was somehow fascinating towards Ahri. Somehow she felt...good when she was around her. Ahri couldn't really describe the feeling.

When she stepped out of her room, she started to realize, that she didn't pay much attention yesterday so she had no real clue where exactly she was. With a sigh,she turned to her right and just started walking. It was pretty silent in this part of the Institute. She heard talking behind some doors, but she didn't understand about what they were talking.

After a moment of disoriented walking Ahri finally found some signs on the walls, written in glowing blue runes. When she looked at them, they seemed to change their shape, and instead of the mainland characters they were forming Ionian ones, which were much easier to read for her.

Without another stop, she found the mess again, and entered. In contrast to yesterday, it was nearly empty. Only a few summoners were around, together with some champions. Ahri wondered where everyone else was. She looked around in search for Leona, but didn't find her.

Some summoners greeted her friendly on her way to the buffet. She grabbed a tray filled it with a typical Ionian breakfast, and sat down. She overheard some conversations while she ate, but most summoners talked about magic, which she didn't really understand, and the champions spoke about their last matches. All in all...not the most exciting topics for her.

After a short moment, she heard heavy footsteps, most likely from someone armored. She looked over her shoulder and wasn't disappointed. Leona stepped into the mess hall, shortly greeting some of the summoners, before she spotted Ahri.

‟Good morning!", she said in a cheerful tone. She seemed to be in a good mood. ‟Wait a second..I'll be right with you." She walked to the buffet, and came back after a moment, her tray filled.

‟Morning", Ahri said, and regarded Leona for a moment. The sun was shining through the giant windows, directly down on Leona. Parts of her armor, and even her body seemed to glow in sunlight. She looked beautiful and like a strong warrior. A warrior in whose embraces someone could feel safe... 'Woah...calm down Ahri', she thought with a short blush, which she hid by drinking out of her jug.

‟How are you doing?", Leona asked and stretched her arms, before she took a bite of an apple, looking at her curiously.

‟Well..fine. What could change after being here for one day?", Ahri replied amused. ‟How are you?"

‟Pretty good. Well a bit exhausted, but nothing serious though", Leona answered. And like she wanted to emphasize her words, she suppressed a yawn, holding a hand before her mouth.

‟I see", Ahri said amused. She remembered the incident from yesterday, and decided to ask Leona about it. Besides, that she didn't have any other topic to talk about right now. ‟What was with this summoning thing from yesterday?"

‟Oh, that. There was a match between Piltover and Demacia about some minor contract problems. They decided to do a League match about it", Leona answered, while she took another bite. ‟Nothing too serious though...they could have summoned someone else for that."

‟We fight against each other because of something like that?" Ahri clearly sounded unbelieving. It seemed to be a bit...much to fight against each other because of a minor problem.

‟City states often do things like that", Leona explained her with a shrug. ‟From what I know is that the League is broadcasting the matches to nearly every part of Valoran. It's a public event in the big cities."

Ahri suddenly felt like she literally lived under a stone for the past years. She never had paid much attention to her surroundings in Ionia, she was focused on her own goal,everything around her was not interesting back then.

‟You seemed to be a bit...flustered?", Leona asked carefully.

‟Well...I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings during the last years..", Ahri answered plainly and slightly embarrassed about her lack of knowledge. Leona simply smiled at her.

‟You're not to blame about this. I'm sure you had your head full of other things", she said diplomatically and winked at her. Ahri sighed.

‟Maybe...well..another thing", she said a bit more self confident now, ‟the spell they used was a teleportation spell, right? I have felt this before.."

‟Yeah. They summon us to the Fields of Justice, places everywhere around Valoran. You could call them...something like arenas where we are fighting against each other", Leona explained calmly. ‟Oh, well..here we go again. Looks like you're in it today."

‟Wait..what?" Ahri felt how magic started to surround her, and looked down onto herself. But, before she could ask any other questions, she way away. Everything around her was dark, it was a feeling like she floated. The only thing she could see was her own body. She swallowed down her fear, and for a moment thought about summoning her orb which gave her at least some feeling of protection.

_Don't do that, or it will be kinda problematic. Just relax for a moment. _A female voice suddenly said in her head. But, that didn't help much to calm down either, even though Ahri obeyed the order of not summoning her orb. She closed her eyes and simply waited.

Her feet touched the ground again after a short moment, and Ahri felt a fresh breeze on her face. She opened her eyes again and looked around surprised. She obviously wasn't within the League anymore. She was standing on top of a platform like structure. The platform itself was slightly overgrown with grass. Blue magical runes glowed everywhere around her and she still felt magic in the air.

Ahri looked down from the platform. Before her was a strange structure. A giant blue crystal was floating within it and held by some attachments, surrounded by small walls. Before this thing two giant statues stand. They looked like warriors or wizards of some kind, wearing long cloaks and robes. They both carried something like a lance with them. On top of these weapons was a small blue crystal, which steadily spun around itself, glowing up from time to time.

Ahri looked behind these things and spotted three different exits out of the base, everyone guarded by another turret and some smaller looking nexi. The remaining part of their base was surrounded by a high wall.

‟_**Welcome to Summoner's Rift!"**_, a female voice loudly announced.

‟Hey, Ahri. So we meet again." Ahri heard another voice behind her, and quickly turned around to face her team. The person who spoke was Irelia, beside her stood Leona. Irelia shortly smiled, before she turned away again, overlooking their team.

‟Hi", Ahri simply replied a bit overwhelmed by everything what was happening right now. Two other persons stood there. One of them was...well, Ahri wasn't sure about what exactly he was. Multiple blue eyes looked at her for a second. A purple robe covered his entire body and his 'weapon' seemed to be something like a lamppost, which he held with three blue fingers. He was obviously no human being.

The other person in her team was a young looking boy, with blonde hair. His clothing seemed to be made for long trips and adventures with multiple belts around his hips and thighs. Ahri believed that she had seen him before, somewhere in Piltover on a poster or something like this, but she wasn't sure about it.

‟Alright, let's get to it", Leona proclaimed, and everyone nodded. ‟Ezreal? You're in the middle today...I'll take Ahri with me. It's her first match after all."

‟Fine with this. My opponent is Twisted Fate right? Well, I have a score to settle with him! He obviously cheated in our last card game!", Ezreal exclaimed motivated and suddenly vanished with a short yellow flash, only to appear again close to the shop.

‟The jungle is mine. If you need help with them, I'll come", the purple robed person said calmly.

‟Okay..let's get to it", Irelia stated. She turned around and walked towards the shop too, grabbing some small badge and started to run towards the top lane.

‟Okay, Ahri. I'll wait for you in the lane", Leona said with a smile. She stopped at the shop for a moment, before she started to run out of their base, drawing her sword from her back.

_So, Ahri let's do this, shall we? _The voice in her head spoke again.

‟Who are you?", she asked quietly and confused.

_Oh, right. You can talk with me when you think about something. My name is Cecily, your summoner for today's match. _Cecily said in her head. She sounded amused, but at the same time concentrated.

'Thinking like this right? So...what am I supposed to do now? I hadn't any trainings matches before...I don't even know if I'm suited for combat', she thought. It was a really strange way to talk to another person. She wondered if the summoner actually could read all of her thoughts.

_Actually, I can do that. But, I will not look into your private things. _

Ahri let out a sigh of annoyance.

_Just do me the favor to follow my orders for now. Then you won't need a training match anymore. _

_First go to the shop there and pick up a Doran's Ring together with two health potions and a warding totem. _The voice ordered her. Her legs seemed to start to move on her own, but Ahri shook off the strange feeling of being controlled like a puppet. It was probably her own tension.

She was pretty nervous and tensed. This would be a real and cruel battle. She could die here, and even though Leona told her, that she didn't need to fear it, there was still a uneasy feeling in her gut about this simple fact. But, she couldn't hold back here. Other people wouldn't stop. She needed to kill them.

_Don't be nervous, Ahri. Everything will be fine..it's your first match after all. _The summoner said encouraging in her head. _And in case you're getting into trouble, I'll be there to help you out. _

Ahri wasn't very sure what to think about this statement. How could the summoner possibly help her? But, anyway she didn't need to care about this right now. She didn't know what to do, so following orders from her summoner wouldn't be the worst idea for now. Ahri took a deep breath and walked over to the shop.

The strange looking person behind the table, just looked at her for a moment, before nodding down at the display. Ahri shortly looked over the table. Small badges were lying around, everyone with a price under it and ordered into different categories. So many different symbols reaching from small swords and armor to rods and clothing. Right from these badges she saw five different portraits and a 'money' counter for each champion. Her own showed 475 gold left.

After a short search for the right item, Ahri finally found a small blue-silver ring. She looked at the badge for a moment, turning them within her fingers. She felt the magic within this little thing, a magic which wanted to be released. 'What do I know with that?', she thought.

_Just press it against your hand...the magic will strengthen you then._ Cecily answered her.

Ahri did what she was ordered, and pressed the ring against her right hand. The badge disappeared and something which reminded her of blue dust entered her body through her skin. Ahri instantly felt the magic which wandered through her body. It felt...surprisingly good. She felt stronger than before. It distantly reminded her of the feeling she had, shortly after stealing a life essence from a person. Even though this one here was far stronger.

She searched for the other two items, just like Cecily had ordered her. The health potions were nothing more than two small flasks with a reddish liquid in it, the warding totem something like a green-yellowish plant. She put the flasks at her belt, together with the totem. After she got everything she looked at her money count: Five Gold left.

'Well..that's a good start', Ahri thought slightly amused and for a second forgot about her tension. She stretched her arms and summoned her blue orb into her right hand. She needed to concentrate now. Focus on everything before her. She had a clear goal: Winning this match. 'Alright I'm ready. I should follow Leona now right?'

_Yeah. Let's get to the lane. I will give you any information you'll need. _The summoner answered her calmly.

Ahri didn't waste anymore time and started to jog towards the bottom lane. Just as she passed the second turret the female announcer proclaimed something again.

‟**Minions have spawned!" **

Ahri looked behind her to the Nexus. With a flash of blue light, small creatures appeared. They wore blue robes and small stone like weapons and shields, while others carried a staff with them. Their faces were hidden behind a stone mask, which showed an emotionless face. She stopped for a second and watched them. The creatures passed her in a straight line, they didn't even notice her at all.

_Mindless Drones. Follow them quickly. _The summoner said again in her head. Ahri started to run again. On her right side was a partly destroyed stone wall. It looked really old, but she still could see some magical runes written on them. It looked like it was surrounding the entire 'arena'.

On her left side was a thick forest. It was so thick, she could barely see a few meters in it, before some tree blocked her view. The trees were high really high, most were higher than an average house. From inside of it, she heard a loud roaring noise of some giant creature.

'So..that's the jungle right? Looks like an excellent position for a trap', she thought and hold her distance to the tree line, running close to the minions.

_It is. But don't worry now. The enemy champions are not here. When you arrive in lane, stick to Leona. _

Shortly before she arrived the second turret, she spotted Leona which stood close to it, stretching her muscles and swung her sword around a bit, like she was warming up. She noticed her and nodded. ‟You're ready? Will be tough for the first time", she said neutral and calmly. Ahri nodded and licked her lips nervously.

After a short moment in which they waited, other minions arrived at the lane. Unlike theirs they wore red robes, and Ahri could get a glimpse of their faces which were nearly completely black besides two yellow dots. Instantly they attacked each other using their toy like weaponry. The spellcasters summoned small magical balls and attacked from a safe distance.

Ahri overlooked the area before her for a moment. On her left side was a river, which seemed to be only foot high and easily passable. Aquatic plants grew there, some were high and thick enough someone could actually hide there, waiting for an opportunity to strike. She couldn't see that far into the distance though, as some fallen old trees, more plants and giant stones blocked her view.

On her right side was the high stone wall. But, here it was utterly destroyed at some points, and Ahri could see beyond this wall. But, beyond it was nothing. In the far distance she spotted some mountains, together with hilly grassland.

'It's impressive', Ahri thought, but concentrated again. Closely to the broken wall was some high grass and other small plants. Like the one in the river, someone could hide within them without being spotted.

The only open area was the one directly before her, where the minions fought against each other. A bit in the distance Ahri could see the enemy tower. The tower looked like a giant, stone guardian protecting this path before enemies. A red crystal steadily spun on top of a long staff of this tower.

‟Okay, Ahri. Start killing the minions which are pretty damaged. This will give you a slight amount of gold, which you can spend later on. I will stand close to you..and protect you from everything", Leona explained calmly. She scanned the surrounding area carefully, before walking towards the high grass on the right side.

With a shrug Ahri watched the minions and spotted how one of them took a heavy beating from two of their own. She sent out a small bolt of magical energy. The minion shortly stumbled a bit, before it simply fell on its back and disappeared into a red light, leaving nothing behind.

Ahri continued with her farming, while pricking up her ears. She tried to ignore the faint sound of the minions weaponry, and concentrated on other more important sounds. Boots within the mud, the treachery sound of splashing water. But, everything was quiet.

Until, suddenly someone appeared directly within the minions, seemingly out of nowhere and without a sound. A young woman with long red hair, and a scar above her green eyes. She wore tight, leather pants with dozens of daggers attached to them. Her midriff was exposed showing a tattoo.

Within her hands she held two giant daggers, which looked more like swords. Around her wrists, she wore studded armor pieces. They looked sharp enough, to actually cut someone. She had a sly grin on her face.

‟Oh, the new one!", she said pretty amused. ‟Let's dance!"

She disappeared again, but Ahri heard the treacherous sound of a breaking branch behind her. She turned around, while jumping backwards. The tip of one of the daggers cut over her clothing, leaving a scratch on her skin.

‟Getting cocky again, Katarina?!", Leona suddenly exclaimed and appeared out of the bush again. She threw a blade made out of pure sunlight at the assassin. Katarina quickly jumped to her side, using one of the minion's heads as a springboard to jump even further. She did a front flip midair, and elegantly landed on her feet, turning around again to face them.

‟Oh, you're here? I was asking myself when you would come", Katarina replied amused. ‟Hey, Warwick! Catch the fox!"

Out of the other bush another creature jumped. It looked like a wolf, running on two legs with glowing red eyes. His fur was blueish-gray, and parts of his body were protected by golden pieces of armor. He let out a bloodcurdling howl, and ran towards Ahri. At the same time, Katarina started to engage at Leona, which blocked and parried the quick attacks of the assassin.

_Show me what you're capable of, Ahri. _The summoner said in her head, nearly excited and eager.

Then the wolf was upon her, sending her onto the ground. Ahri raised her arms, and struggled to get away from him, but he continued to attack her with vicious ferocity, cutting over her skin. Ahri crunched her teeth in pain, and focused for a second. She let her orb explode within her hand. The explosion sent Warwick flying away from her, but Ahri knew this was only a short moment to catch her breath.

She did a backroll, getting back onto her feet within the motion. Blood was dripping out of several wounds, but surprisingly it didn't hurt that much. Quickly, she summoned her orb again and threw it against the werewolf. He raised his arms in an attempt to protect himself, but the orb simply flew through him and exploded behind him. He stumbled forwards, falling to the ground.

‟Shunpo! Watch out!", Leona suddenly yelled.

Katarina appeared before Ahri, out of nowhere again. What followed was a quick, and deadly dance which lasted only a few seconds. Ahri more or less stumbled backwards, avoiding the quick slashes of the woman. She didn't even have the time to use her magic again.

‟Nice reactions, fox! But, let's end this little fun!" Katarina disappeared again, Ahri looked around in confusion, searching for her.

Before she could react, Leona ran towards her raising her shield to protect Ahri. Multiple daggers hit the shield, but were ricocheted from it without doing damage. Ahri now spotted Katarina again, landing beside Warwick, who was back on his feet.

‟Thanks", Ahri plainly said, and Leona simply nodded.

‟Be careful..she's a flexible bitch", Leona replied loud enough that Katarina could easily hear it. She gave her another sly grin.

‟Oh, getting personal here little sunshine?", Katarina asked with a playful voice, before she prepared herself again. ‟Well then..bring it on!"

‟Leave me the fox...I'll shall feast on her bones", Warwick snarled. His voice was deep, guttural.

Ahri summoned her orb again, and looked at Leona, which nodded at her. ‟On my go...", she whispered, and seemed to concentrate for a moment.

Ahri didn't know what to expect, but what Leona did now, was beyond her imagination. She raised her sword above her head, which started to glow so brightly it illuminated the whole area around them. Then, a beam of pure sunlight hit Katarina and Warwick at the same time. She heard how Warwick cursed loudly. Katarina instantly stumbled backwards, obviously trying to get away.

‟GO!", Leona shouted.

_Show me everything you have..._

Ahri gathered her magic. She held her orb with both hands now, and it turned into a green color what it always did when she used such strong magic. With a scream she threw it against Warwick. As soon as it touched him, it exploded in a magical explosion, not only killing him but the minions around him too.

‟**First Blood! Warwick has been slain!" **The announcer proclaimed loudly.

For a short moment Ahri looked at the slain werewolf. The body of him already started to disappear into a red light. She had done it again. She had killed someone, and she didn't even think about it for a moment. Her mind was surprisingly empty about this fact. She felt nothing, which surprised her.

Ahri felt an armored hand on her shoulder, and looked over it into Leona's face which showed her a smile. ‟Good job, Ahri. Let's keep this up for this match...we need to push for now. Katarina is back to base...or at least my summoner told me that", she explained calmly. She had a small cut on her cheek, where some blood dripped out, most likely from Katarina.

‟Thank you...alright..", Ahri replied. She took a deep breath and gathered herself mentally.

_Nice job, Ahri. Go on with that. _The summoner added, but Cecily seemed to be distracted by something else.

'What is it?', Ahri thought while she attacked one of the minions again. A new wave of them had arrived and started to punch each other. They had another minion with them, which operated some kind of cannon.

_Nothing. I was just focused on the top lane for a moment. Irelia had a tough time against Udyr. _Cecily answered her question.

Even though Ahri didn't have a real reason for it, she distrusted her own summoner. Something seemed to be..out of place somehow. But, she remembered that Cecily actually could read her mind, so she focused on fighting the minions again.

‟So? How is it?", Leona asked after a short moment. She finished off one of the minions, using her sword. Before the minion touched the ground, a short glimmer of something green emitted from him, traveling in Ahri's body. She felt slightly refreshed from it.

‟I would have imagined it...different", Ahri answered the question, while she kept an eye on the river. ‟But, what did you just do?"

‟My summoner told me I should buy a 'Relic Shield'. It refreshes my partner, when I kill a minion", Leona replied amused, and killed another one. The same effect occurred. Ahri saw how some cuts on her body magically disappeared like nothing happened. The magic of the League surely was powerful.

‟Yes, that's too..but I meant the thing before this. The whole sun show", Ahri said rather quietly. She thought that she heard something within the river. A short sound of a splash. She nodded in the direction, and Leona simply nodded back.

‟I'm the chosen of the sun. I can call down it's glory to the battlefield", Leona explained simply, but she went quiet too. ‟It's a gift. But, it's not like magic. I serve the sun, not the other way around...I...damn it! Watch out! Nasus!"

A giant dog like creature stepped out of the bush from the river. Ahri had no idea, how he could sneak up on them like this as he wore heavy armor and a giant halberd like weapon. His eyes glowed with a blue color.

‟Wither!", he exclaimed and raised his halberd above his head, pointing at Ahri.

It felt like her legs would have aged centuries. They felt heavy and weak. The giant dog quickly approached her, raising his giant weapon above his head. ‟Return to the dust", he said surprisingly calmly. Ahri stumbled backwards, but her legs didn't answer the way she wanted to. She fell on her back, and stayed there, looking up to the dog. She felt fear growing inside of her.

‟Ahri!", Leona screamed out, and suddenly appeared before her. She seemed to be surrounded by sunlight, protecting her from every angle. Her shield glowed brightly, before Nasus halberd hit it hard. Leona got down onto her knees from the impact, and let out a quiet moan.

Ahri quickly reacted and sent out her blueish orb, to buy Leona some time. But, Nasus seemed to be rather unimpressed by her magic. It hit him, and he slightly stumbled backwards, but he kept up the pressure on Leona's shield, which started to struggle against the far more powerful creature.

‟You want a piece of the champ, boy?", another person suddenly yelled. The purple-hooded person appeared out of the jungle, jumping from a rock and landing behind Nasus. He quickly reacted and grabbed his halberd with two hands, spinning around to hit Jax in the motion. Jax simply parried the attack with his lamppost.

‟Sit down Nasus!", Leona exclaimed with a grin and the sunlight, which surrounded her exploded, doing no harm to Ahri but it kicked Nasus away from the three. Katarina and Warwick also appeared again, together with a new minion wave.

‟Now it's my turn!", Jax exclaimed and raises his weapon over his head, spinning it around. He engaged at their opponents by jumping at Nasus. He spun around his lamppost sending Warwick onto the ground, while Nasus was able to parry it. Katarina jumped away from the them, gaining a bit more distance. She disappeared into the bushes.

Leona threw another sunblade, running towards Nasus too. Her shield shone brightly, and she slammed it with everything she got against the creature which stumbled backwards. ‟Go Ahri!"

Ahri loaded up her orb again, and threw it against Nasus, which was unable to withstand that much focus fire. The magical explosion of the orb, sent him down onto the ground where Jax finished him off with a hard slam on his head.

‟**Nasus has been slain!" **

But, their victory was short-lived. Katarina appeared again, directly behind Jax. She slashed over his back using both of her daggers. Strange colored blue blood splattered out of his wounds. Leona raised one of her legs, and kicked against Katarina's stomach, which sent her flying backwards. She did a back flip, landing on one of her hands and pushing herself away, landing on her feet.

‟**Jax has been slain!" **

Warwick also started to engage now, and run towards Leona raised her shield in order to protect herself. Katarina at the same time threw out even more daggers, which hit Leona in the side. One of the daggers was stuck within her skin. Ahri clearly saw how blood was dripping out of the wounds. She threw out another blue orb, to buy Leona some time.

But, Warwick wasn't impressed by this. While Katarina jumped a few steps back to avoid the magical explosion, he continued his attack on Leona, slashing and biting her. The werwolf sent her down onto the ground, using pure force. Leona lost her sword because of the sudden fall, and Warwick cut over her face, letting her snarling at the werewolf.

Ahri run towards them both, but before she could use another attack, she heard her summoner's voice again.

_I think I let you run around long enough...if that is really everything you know about yourself, it's a pity. Let me show you...your TRUE potential. _

'Wait..wha..', was the last thing Ahri could think. She stumbled. It felt like someone..._something _entered her mind violently. She couldn't feel her body anymore. Her vision got blurry, like someone put a color screen over her eyes. Everything turned slightly bluish.

Ahri couldn't do anything. She was a prisoner within her own body. She was damned to watch what happened before her. She didn't hear anything either. She saw how three blue flames started to surround her, a magic she had never used before. The flames flying at Warwick and Katarina simultaneously, hitting them and leaving scorched skin and fur.

She started to dash around on the battlefield. While she moved like this bolts of magic were flying at Warwick. The explosions let him go of Leona, and he focused on Ahri again, letting out another bloodcurdling howl. However, Ahri sent out her green orb which hit Warwick. The explosion of magical energy was strong enough, to leave a small crater behind.

‟**Warwick has been slain!" **

Katarina saw that the tides of battle turned, and tried to get away again using minion heads and shoulders. She turned around midair, throwing some daggers at Ahri. Her body dashed forward, avoiding the daggers with ease. Katarina was getting closer to her turret. But, the summoner who controlled Ahri's body, didn't let her go that easily.

Ahri dashed towards the structure. Out of the red crystal a bolt of energy was fired, missing Ahri by only a few inches. The explosion was enough to send her flying forward, closer to the tower, but also in range of Katarina. She threw out her orb, hitting Katarina in the back, sending her down onto the ground.

'No! Stop it!', Ahri thought desperate as another shot from the tower barely missed her again. She felt how dirt was hitting her back.

_Watch...and learn. Maybe you can master yourself then. _Cecily answered her coldly.

The tower shot another magical charge at her, which she avoided again by dashing to the side. Ahri felt how fear grew inside of her. She would die here. She knew that for sure.

Cecily let her move forward like a puppet. She started to run towards Katarina, which was lying on her back. She grabbed at her belt, and threw out multiple daggers at Ahri. This time she didn't even try to avoid it. She felt how one dagger was stuck within her gut another one within her thigh. But, she didn't feel pain.

Blue fox-fires surrounded her. She sent them out together with her orb directly targeted at Katarina. All of her attacks hit the Noxian at multiple spots, including her head. She was dead in a blink of an eye. Ahri saw how her body slowly started to disappear into a red light.

_This is only the beginning, Ahri. I hope you enjoyed this little...demonstration of yourself. _

Ahri suddenly felt her body again. She felt how the summoner even withdraw from her head. But, with that the agony came. She let out a loud scream of pain. One hand of her grabbed the dagger at her stomach, and tried to pull it out, a futile attempt. She was far too weakened. Her hands shook slightly, she didn't have the strength to carry on anymore.

She coughed up blood. She fell down onto her knees, which made things only worse as the dagger in her thigh drilled itself deeper into her skin. Ahri looked up. The tower was ready for its next attack, an attack which would kill her. She swallowed hard, she felt tears running down her cheeks. The tower shot.

‟Ahri!"

The magical charge hit her directly, sending her flying. The last thing she felt was how she hit the ground, and how the daggers dug themselves deeper into her body. Then everything turned black, and she passed out.


	5. Turn of Events

**Author's Note**

Well let's start with a little bit of romance, shall we? I know everyone is waiting for this! Oh and...plot twists!

**Chapter 5 **

**Turn of Events **

**Somewhere...**

‟How was that even possible?"

‟I don't know. We don't have any traces of this incident...well not yet."

‟No matter what. I guess everyone who was there..."

‟Oh god. This topic again? I thought we discussed this already!"

‟Let me speak freely. You all saw it! She's too dangerous!"

‟I think I made myself clear enough about this! Talk with the High Councilor if you have a problem with the decision."

‟Besides, it's better when we have her within the reach of the League."

‟Oh yeah? Why?"

‟It's better if she's in control here. Do you want her to roam around freely?"

‟We should let her vanish."

‟The past is clouding your judgment, summoner. You're expelled from this council until you get your head clear. And don't act on your own..if you do, you will get punished properly."

‟You make a terrible mistake! But, when this is the decision of the council...I will obey." Footsteps, a closing door.

‟Good. Now...let's get to the other points on the list."

* * *

‟Ahri? You're awake?", a familiar voice asked softly.

Ahri woke up with a start, and immediately got up. It was punishing. She felt dizzy because of the sudden movement, and she had a slight headache. Everything around her seemed to be bright, like someone pointed a flashlight directly into her face. She felt how armored hands gently pushed her back onto the pillows.

‟She's awake! Finally", another male voice said.

It took her a few moments to get a clear view of her surroundings. She was obviously lying in some kind of hospital bed. In a moment of confusion, she looked around. Nearby she spotted more beds, but they were all empty. A window wasn't far away from them, but on the outside it seemed to be completely dark. She couldn't see anything, so she focused on the room again.

The walls were painted in a green-white tone. On a small bench nearby, she spotted medical tools of all kinds reaching from syringes to some kind of forceps and other things she had never seen before. Two persons were in this room. One of them sat on a chair, looking down at her. She recognized her immediately. It was Leona, wearing her normal suit of armor.

The other one looked like a summoner. He wore a long, unusual white robe. He had put down his hood, so she could see his face. He had a long brown beard, combined with long hair. Symbols on his clothing implied that he was some kind of doctor.

‟Where...", Ahri started to speak, but stopped after the first word. Her mouth felt dry, like she didn't drink anything for a few days.

‟You're in the medical wing", Leona answered her. The warrior grabbed a small water glass, and gave it Ahri, which emptied it. Slowly her senses came back completely. Even though the headache stayed.

‟What happened?", Ahri asked confused. She didn't have any idea how she ended up here. The last thing she remembered clearly was that two daggers were stuck within her body, and how she passed out. She also remembered the fear, she had felt. The seconds before her death. Nothing of it was very pleasant to even think about. When every battle was like this..she was happy, that she didn't participate in one before.

‟Well..it seemed the effect of your first death on the Fields was surprisingly strong", the summoner explained calmly. ‟At least that's the story in short..but you need some rest first. You still suffer from the high blood loss. Something normally wouldn't happen." The summoner spoke in a tone, like he knew something, but wasn't willing to share it with her.

‟How long was I away?", she asked dazed, while looking outside again.

‟Not that long. Your match was in the early morning. Now it is..", the summoner shortly looked over to a small clock, ‟eight o'clock in the evening."

So, she was away for most part of the day. ‟When can I leave?", she asked carefully. She started to dislike this place already. It was so... clinically cold, impersonal.

‟You can go to your room. But like I said..you need to rest for now. Tomorrow you should be completely fine. As far as I know your training will begin tomorrow", the doctor said. ‟Leona? Would you be so kind and help her?"

‟I will", Leona answered friendly.

‟Do you find your room, Ahri?", the doctor asked her. Ahri simply nodded, and slowly got out of the bed. She didn't wear her usual attire, instead some sort of simple white gown. She touched her stomach for a second. She felt nothing, not even a scar. It was like nothing happened to her, for which she was rather happy.

‟Where is the rest of my stuff?", she asked.

‟It was brought to your room. Well, then...good night", the summoner said with a friendly smile.

Ahri nodded again, and slowly stood up from the bed, but it already felt like her legs wouldn't carry her anywhere. Was she really that weak? 'Well..getting stabbed twice isn't something easy, right?', she thought with gallows humor. Leona quickly stood beside her, helping her to walk. Together they left the medical wing.

* * *

Ahri felt completely embarrassed, when they stepped into the main corridors. She had always presented herself as a good looking, self-confident, and sometimes as a seducing young woman. With her looks now, nothing of that was left. They had passed one mirror on their way outside, and Ahri knew that she looked awful. She was pale, her hair was a complete mess and she wore this embarrassing piece of clothing. Nothing about her was charming anymore. Luckily for her they didn't meet any other champions on their way, only some summoners who greeted them.

‟So...I'm sorry by the way", Leona suddenly stated, when they entered the corridor, which led to Ahri's room. ‟I failed at my job, protecting my partner. It's my fault that you are in this condition right now."

‟What's that now?", Ahri asked surprised. ‟Nothing to feel sorry about. I wasn't in control of my own body there. You don't need to blame yourself." She slowly started to remember more things before she blacked out. The summoner took violently control over her body. ‟What was about the match?", she added with a slight feeling of guilt.

‟It was immediately terminated after you collapsed. When I was back in the summoning chambers, I saw how you were carried away by some guards together with summoners who started to heal the wounds", Leona explained calmly. ‟It was pretty chaotic."

‟How was that even possible?", Ahri asked confused again. ‟You told me about trainings matches.."

‟Yeah, I overheard something about this. There were some errors about you get summoned. I guess they will explain everything tomorrow", Leona answered with a shrug. ‟Anyway...some pretty nice fighting back then." She shortly smiled at her.

‟Thanks...but it wasn't me. The summoner took control over my body during the end...shortly before I...died. I have never before used any of these techniques." It sounded strange in her ears, to talk about her own death like it was nothing serious at all.

‟Oh, that reminds me of my time with the Solari during my training", Leona said amused. ‟You know..they can't call down the power of the sun. Everything they could do, was explaining everything to me. Well..it didn't always end well. Nearly destroying half of the library, you know..." She had a broad grin on her face. Ahri quietly laughed. ‟Well..you will master everything with time", she continued a bit more serious again.

‟I hope so...", Ahri said a bit more serious too. ‟My combat skills are otherwise not that good."

‟We all start small", Leona replied and winked at her encouraging. ‟Well..this is the room?"

‟Yeah. Come in", Ahri answered. She now spotted that her name was written on the door, together with a symbol. They symbol showed a stylized white fox with nine tails, surrounded by Ionian letters. She recognized the word: Gumiho.

They stepped into her room, and Leona closed the door behind them. Curiously, she looked around within Ahri's room, while Ahri spotted her belongings on the table. The dress was cleaned and in one piece. It showed no sign, that she wore it in a fierce battle.

‟Nice room", Leona commented shortly. ‟So...can you make it to your bed?"

‟Come with me please", Ahri simply answered and pointed at one slide door, which Leona opened. They walked into her bedroom, and to Ahri's misfortune she saw that the cupboard with all of her clothing, including her underwear, was still opened. Normally, she wouldn't care that much...but somehow her face turned reddish now.

She looked to her side and saw how Leona blushed slightly, but she focused on the bed and didn't say a word, for which Ahri was thankful. She sat down on the bed, and looked up to the warrior girl, which rubbed the back of her head, and smiled a bit helpless.

‟Ehm...well. I will leave you alone now. Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow, right?", she said friendly and with a slight blush on her face. She turned around and wanted to walk away.

Ahri quickly grabbed Leona's arm, and she froze in place. ‟Don't go please. Would you stay here? At least for this night?", she asked carefully. There was a moment of silence between them.

If someone would ask her why she asked such a favor, she couldn't give a clear answer to it. She wasn't sure about it by herself. But, somehow Leona gave her a feeling of being safe. A feeling that nothing bad would happen to her. Maybe it was because Leona was the first person she could really call...a friend not only a acquaintance. Or...was there maybe more...

Ahri slapped herself mentally. What the hell was she thinking? She knew Leona for two days now. Why was she so clingy to her? She surely had better things to do, than watching over someone like her.

But, to her surprise and delight, Leona turned around again. She pulled off her armored gloves and placed them on the nightstand. Then, she pulled up an armchair and sat down on it, closer to her bed. She grabbed Ahri's hand, her face was slightly red. ‟Alright. I'll stay for tonight...someone needs to keep an eye on you, not that something bad happens", she answered. Her voice was amused, but surprisingly soft.

They didn't speak after that anymore. Ahri just looked up at Leona, and lost herself in the amber colored eyes. The warm hands of the avatar wandered over her arm. It felt like the sun would gently tinge on her skin, calming her down, relaxing her. Ahri somehow knew...nothing would happen to her, no matter what. For the first time in her life..she felt completely secure.

Ahri tried her best to stay awake. She didn't want that this moment came to an end. But, the warm feeling, her fatigue and blood loss made sure that her eyes got heavier with the time. And before she could realize anything, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**The next day...**

It was early in the morning, but Ahri was already on her feet. Fully dressed and showered, she felt like she was reborn. Every part of her body felt good, maybe even better than before. It was nothing like yesterday where she felt gloomy. On her way to the mess she greeted some of the summoners, winked at some good looking ones. 'Well...if you feel like this every time..I can get used to it', Ahri thought amused.

Leona had left her room, even before she had woken up. She had left her a paper though. _I need to go now Ahri. Duties are calling me. I'll see you soon again! _When she started to think about Leona, she had the same feeling from yesterday. This strange feeling, she couldn't describe. Was there really something between them? Maybe she really...

Ahri blushed a bit, when she thought about this. Everything seemed to be far more complicated with Leona, than any other woman she met before. She shook her head to get the red color out of her face. Maybe there was something. Maybe not. She would have enough time to find it out.

She entered the mess, which was more or less crowded with summoners and champions. Quietly humming, she took a tray and filled it completely. She was hungry like a wolf. Maybe a side effect of everything, but she didn't care for now.

She sat down and started to wolfing down her food. Even though her mainly concentrated on eating, she still heard footsteps behind her, which came closer. Finally, Ahri looked up. She spotted an older looking man, using a cane. A long white beard together with fitting long hair, heralded his old age. He sat down before her, smiling.

‟Good morning, Ahri", he greeted her friendly. His voice was calm, it distantly sounded like an older teacher who saw dozens of different classes, and now he would greet a new one.

‟Good morning", Ahri greeted back, and stopped her eating. ‟What is it?"

‟Well, Ahri. My name is Martin. I am a summoner..and I'm here because the League needs to apologize to you", he stated calmly, and watched her carefully, waiting for a reaction.

Ahri raised one of her brows, and looked at the summoner for a moment. She wasn't surprised by the fact that the League spoke with her. It was more surprising that they apologized. ‟Apologize? Because of the incident yesterday, right? Leona told me there were some errors", Ahri replied calmly.

‟Yes. A summoner called Shana summoned you to the Fields without permission. She has vanished since then, but we're trying to trace her by now", he started, but Ahri already interrupted him.

‟The summoner said her name was Cecily...is that maybe a second name or something like this?", she asked and frowned.

‟Never heard of that name", the summoner answered and frowned as well. ‟You're sure about this?"

Ahri rubbed over her head and thought about the situation for a moment. Did she just imagine something? No, that wasn't possible. But, the summoner entered her mind violently...had she changed something? Could she really trust herself here?

‟Well...maybe you're right or so...", Ahri started slowly. ‟Is it possible to change the memory of someone by using the summoning magic?"

‟Well, it is possible in theory. But, the League doesn't do something like this", Martin explained. ‟We don't change the memories of our champions. We look into them during their judgment, yes. But, nothing more. Why do you ask?"

‟Hm...maybe this Shana changed something then to cover herself up",Ahri answered calmly. She shrugged, a bit confused. Right now she didn't know what to believe. ‟But, well. I'm pretty sure that her name was Cecily."

The summoner stroke through his long beard, and looked at her frowning. ‟I have a request. Don't tell anyone about this. It should remain a secret for now", he said and lowered his voice. ‟We will investigate this issue with caution."

‟Alright. But, what about the mind reading when I get summoned?", she asked slightly uneasy. How could she keep something a secret, when everybody here could read her mind by simply summoning her? It seemed to be a rather easy process after all.

‟Keep this here with you." The summoner gave her something like a small, red ring. ‟With this summoners will not be able to read your inner thoughts...that means just don't think about it, when you get summoned and you will be fine."

Ahri put the ring on her ring finger, and looked at it for a moment. She felt the magical energy within the item, even though it was really weak. If somebody didn't pay attention towards it, they wouldn't even notice it. She nodded thankfully. ‟Thanks."

‟So...that's everything for now then. I hope this incident, didn't change your view on the League to the bad?", he asked with a short, warm smile.

‟Well..humans make mistakes, right? Even though dying was not that pleasant, I got at least some hints how the whole fighting here worked", Ahri answered with a chuckle.

‟Master Martin? I should report in the mess?", one person suddenly said behind them. Ahri looked over her shoulder and spotted a young girl, standing there. The girl wore a long red robe, and she had taken down her hood, so Ahri could see her face. She was special somehow. Her eyes had a grayish coloration and her hair color was pink. Maybe she had dyed them.

‟Ah, Yuno", the older summoner said and turned around to face the young girl. ‟Perfect timing. If I'm allowed...Ahri? This is Yuno one of my most talented students." The girl bowed slightly before Ahri in a gesture of respect.

‟Good morning, Yuno", Ahri greeted with a friendly smile.

‟Good morning", she replied before facing Martin again. ‟Why did you order me here master?", she asked carefully.

‟I just wanted to introduce you both to each other. Because you will be Ahri's summoner for her upcoming training", Martin explained. His voice sounded amused.

‟Wait...I just mastered the summoning magic two weeks ago", Yuno instantly protested. ‟I don't think I'm already ready for summoning a champion."

‟You are ready, Yuno. Besides, it's only training and other summoners will be around to make sure everything is going well", Martin continued. He shortly looked at Ahri, while speaking. It was like he wanted to make sure, that she knew nothing could possibly happen to her.

‟Well, I don't have much to say in this matter, have I?", Ahri asked amused and shrugged. ‟To be honest: I don't really care who is summoning me...as long as I don't get controlled against my will."

‟Controlled against your will?", Martin asked and frowned again.

‟Cecily took control over my body during the last minutes, where I was conscious. She let me attack Katarina, while the tower shot at me", Ahri explained and looked at both of them a bit confused.

‟We normally don't take control over a champion. Some champions need control, for example, some of the void creatures, but humanoid beings with the intellect are not possessed normally", Martin explained calmly. ‟One more issue which we will investigate."

‟It's good to hear that...my view on the League suddenly got better", Ahri said amused. She felt somehow relieved. Being possessed by someone was the one feeling she really hated already, and it only happened once to her.

‟Good to hear that, Ahri. I'll leave you both alone for now. The first trainings match will take place in one hour...I'll be there waiting for you two", he said before turning around and slowly walking outside of the mess.

Yuno sat down on the same spot, where her master had sat, and looked to Ahri. ‟Alright then", she began and took a deep breath. ‟This will be my first match even though it's only training."

‟Don't be too nervous...besides it's somehow fitting, right? Two newcomers are matched together", Ahri replied with a chuckle.

‟I honestly don't understand why my master is throwing me in like this. As I said..I only mastered the summoning process two weeks ago", Yuno explained and sighed again. ‟I'm only rank nine...I'm not even fitted for summoning!"

‟Rank nine?", Ahri asked curiously, and looked at the girl.

‟We summoners are categorized into ranks, reaching from one to thirty. Thirty is the highest one...everyone under ten is still learning the basics of magic and summoning", Yuno explained with another sigh.

‟So, you technically haven't the rank to summon a champion? But, well.. I guess your master sees something in you. Otherwise he wouldn't allow that", Ahri said encouraging. She gave the girl a charming smile, and saw how she blushed.

‟Maybe...but, I don't really think that way", Yuno replied shyly. She tapped against the table, before looking up again. ‟But, well...I'm just nervous, okay? The other masters told me it's always like this, when you have to implement the theory into practice."

‟There's a first time for everyone", Ahri replied ambiguously and winked at her. The girl obviously understood. She blushed heavily, and looked down onto the ground. Ahri giggled quietly. ‟Will be fine."

‟You're a magician right?", the girl asked, changing the topic drastically.

‟You mean the League categories right? Well, then yes. I am a mage", Ahri answered.

‟Well..okay then." She stood up, and looked down at Ahri for a moment. ‟I will prepare myself for the summoning. You'll find the summoning chambers easily...there are signs everywhere. Well..later!"

‟See you later." Ahri watched how the girl left the mess hall, and thought about her situation for a moment. She would now fight in a training match. Even though she despised the idea, the short moment in which she got controlled from Cecily... she really had learned things about herself. Maybe she could use this. It was training after all.

'Interesting change of events...', she said and spun one of her chopsticks, which she had used to eat, around. But..something still didn't feel right. Her whole fighting from yesterday, was essentially nothing more than a mistake? And what about these names? Shana...Cecily. 'What exactly is going on?'

**One hour later...**

Ahri's steps echoed through the long hallway. Left and right from here where more ways which led to different parts of the League. The signs on the walls told her about it. Most rooms here were for the summoners or emissaries. Different councils, bureaus and so on. In short nothing of interest. She only stopped short, at one sign. 'Bureau of High Councilor Vessaria Kolminye', she read before walking on. She knew about this High Councilors. The most powerful summoners in Valoran. Nobody could challenge these three persons.

But, she wasn't interested at the moment. She followed the signs which said: Summoning Chambers. Just like Yuno said, they weren't hard to find. It nearly looked like no matter in which direction within the League she walked, she would always find one way to these chambers. No wonder though, as these chambers were the heart and soul of the whole organization.

After a short walk, she stopped before two giant doors which exactly looked like the one from the Reflection Chambers. Three summoners looked down on her, before the doors suddenly started to open slowly. Without more hesitation Ahri stepped into the chamber.

The chamber was big. The most prominent feature of the chamber was one giant pedestal in the middle of it. Blue runes were written all over it, together with blue and golden circles. Ahri could easily feel the magical energy within this area. 'Impressive', she thought.

Some summoners stood around, and quietly talked with each other. Some nodded at her entrance. Ahri quickly found Martin and Yuno, standing close to the pedestal like structure. She walked over to them.

‟Hi", she greeted shortly.

‟Ah, Ahri. Perfect timing again", Martin welcomed her warmly and nodded at the pedestal. ‟We will start right away. Yuno? You know what do to."

The girl looked pretty nervous. Even though she had put on her hood, most likely to hide her face, Ahri saw the she nervously tapped with her feet or played with one long strand of hair, which fell out of her hood.

‟Yes, master", she replied. ‟Alright, Ahri. Follow me."

They both walked the few stairs up to the pedestal. The summoners within the room stopped their talking and looked up. It looked like some of them got ready to intervene if anything went wrong. 'Nothing can happen', Ahri thought to calm herself down.

‟Stand in the circle..and don't move please", Yuno ordered her, and Ahri did what she said.

‟Alright. Start the summoning process", Martin said calmly, and carefully watched his student, which took a deep breath.

Yuno lowered her head slightly, and raised both of her hands. Quietly she started to mumble words, which Ahri couldn't understand. After a short moment, which felt like an eternity for Ahri, blue light started to surround her, beginning from her feet. She looked at Yuno, which seemed to concentrate hardly. Ahri saw how some sweat was running down her face, maybe because she was nervous or it was exhausting.

Then, with a sudden flash of blue light, strong enough that Ahri needed to close her eyes, she was away. The moment of floating in this strange, black and empty world seemed to be longer than the last time. Ahri kept her eyes closed and just waited. 'Just don't panic...keep your cool', she thought and took a deep breath.

She felt ground under her feet again, and slowly opened her eyes. The already known female voice loudly proclaimed:

‟**Welcome to the Proving Grounds." **


	6. Chaotic Emotions

**Author's Note**

This chapter gave me a headache. I nearly rewrote this chapter three times...meh. In the end I decided to go with a more lighthearted style instead of an all grim and dark story.

**Chapter 6 **

**Chaotic Emotions **

Ahri looked around. She stood on some kind of pedestal, which resembled the one from the summoning chambers, even though it was far smaller. The sky above her was surprisingly dark, like thick clouds would block out any light. Before her was the Nexus together with one single tower protecting it. The whole base was surrounded by a high wall, with the exception of one exit. From her position she could easily look over it, but the only thing she saw was a black 'fog' like thing.

Somehow this whole area reminded her of the black emptiness, she saw during her first summoning. Everything here, even the glowing crystal inside the Nexus, had some kind of darkness on it. It was like it would get swallowed by these shadows at any given moment. The only thing that prevented it, was the magic of the League.

This place was everything but, not very welcoming or friendly. In fact, Ahri felt uneasy to be here even though she didn't fear darkness normally. She shook her head, and took a deep breath. At least the air was fresh and cold. She needed to concentrate now, even when this here was only a training match, she would give everything she had.

'Yuno?', she thought, like she did back on the Fields. But, she didn't get an answer. Shortly she looked at the ring on her hand, the summoner gave her. Was she actually blocking her out? Even though the summoner told her, that wouldn't be the case, maybe it was because of Yuno's inexperience. She pulled off the ring and stowed it into one small bag at her belt. Then she asked again in her head, but again no answer.

'Huh..maybe she needs to focus on the summoning process for now..', Ahri thought slightly confused. She slowly walked down from the pedestal over to the shop. Nobody stood behind the table this time, but the items were the same together with her gold count. 'Well..went well last time', she thought and picked up the same silver-blue ring together with the flasks. For a moment she wondered that this yellowish plant wasn't there.

She shrugged and started to jog out of her base. It looked like this place was once some kind of bridge or roadway, she couldn't tell. The ground was pretty damaged, the walls surrounding the single lane didn't look any better though. Behind the walls she saw the dancing shadows and fog. 'What is this place?', she thought for a moment.

Ahri arrived at the second turret, and waited close to it. Before her was the wide lane and some sort of high grass on her left side. Just like the one from Summoner's Rift it would provide enough cover to hide in it.

'Is this..some kind of duel?', she thought for a second and swallowed. Now nobody would come to rescue her, just like Leona did. She had to rely on her own abilities. But, well...maybe she would learn something useful here. She still hated the fact that a summoner seemed to know far more about her magic, than she did. She let out a sigh of frustration. Maybe she should have learned something useful in the past.

‟**Minions have spawned!"**, the female announcer proclaimed loudly. It was the same voice like the one from the Rift.

Ahri waited until the minions arrived in the lane, and started to smash each others head with their toy like weaponry. Her own minions were the red ones today. She looked forward, and scanned the area before her. Nobody was to see, nor did she hear something besides the sounds of the minions. Where was her opponent?

'Huh..' Ahri sent out a bolt of magic and killed one of the low health minions. She continued farming, just like she did on Summoner's Rift. But, she always had pricked up her ears in case she heard something strange. She didn't want to die again. And of course not during the first minutes of this match.

But, the time slowly passed without anything happening and Ahri started to wonder where her opponent was. Did she actually have an opponent in the first place? Or was this whole thing here nothing more than training for Yuno and herself to get acquainted with each other. But, even if that was the case..why didn't she speak with her?

It was strange to be alone here with actually no one else. Not counting the mindless drones of course. Killing these minions was a dumb, and somehow silly task. The most time they ignored her, and only attacked if she directly walked through them or no one else was around.

'Yuno? Can you hear me?', she asked, but like the times before there was no answer. Maybe something went wrong? No, that couldn't be. The minions wouldn't have spawned if that was the case and some of the other summoners would have intervened.

With nothing else to do, Ahri summoned her orb. She could at least end this whole show quickly. She sent out her orb and let it explode within the fighting minions. Some of the blue ones were sent flying through the air, where they disappeared into nothing. Her own minions started to push forward accompanied by a siege cannon.

When she got closer to the tower, she suddenly heard the sound of a breaking branch. It was only thanks to her fox instincts, that she could avoid the green-purple ball of magical energy which barely missed her by a few feet. However the explosion was enough to send her flying backwards. She was able to do a backroll using the momentum of her flying, getting into a starting position like she would run a footrace.

She looked down. It looked like the stones under her were covered with green veins, which pulsated with magical energy. She pushed herself away with both hands, landing on her back. The green veins exploded in another colorful, magical detonation, enough to kill a few minions.

She did another backroll, getting back onto her feet once more. She looked around in search for her opponent, and shortly watched the tower. She made sure to be out of range of its attacks. Then she heard how a voice spoke. She knew to which person the voice belonged, even though she only knew her briefly from some posters and events where she had delivered a speech.

‟Gaen Na Kyri Vi! Jia!" A blue tendril like thing was shot out of the bushes, grabbing Ahri's leg. She stumbled backwards, still a bit shaken from the explosion. She summoned her orb and simply fired it into the direction from which the tendril came. The tendril broke and let go of her leg. Ahri walked back, orb ready in her hand.

‟Good reactions, Ahri", the voice spoke again. A woman stepped into her field of view, coming out of one of the bushes from the left side of the lane.

She was impressive. She had glowing green eyes the same color as her magic she had used, which slowly went back to their normal jade-green coloration. Her dark hair was relatively shortcut. She wore golden earrings, and something like a tiara with a green jade stone on her forehead. Ahri knew that this was the sign of a duchess from Ionia.

She wore a long purple-white dress with some golden accents on her clothing. Some parts of her dark skin were exposed, most notably of course her left leg, where Ahri spotted some kind of green tattoos which wrapped themselves around the leg. Behind her hovered the 'Mantle of Decorum'. Unlike Irelia's it formed the symbol of Ionia. One of Ionia's highest leaders stood before her.

‟Duchess Karma", Ahri said, her voice sounded respectful. 'So the summoners chose her as my opponent?', she thought. Karma was easily one of the strongest magicians of Ionia, maybe only challenged by Syndra herself.

‟It always catches up to you", Karma said. Her voice sounded slightly amused, but calm at the same time. She got into a fighting position, preparing to attack again. ‟But, we're not here for talking today." Her eyes started to glow again in a jade-green color and Ahri prepared herself.

‟Sae Eleisa Tera Vi! Phyla!" Karma sent out another bolt of magical energy. Ahri quickly dashed to her side, but this time she wasn't fast enough. The explosion let her stumble forward, nearly losing her balance. She threw her orb at Karma, but before it actually could hit, a green shield surrounded the duchess.

‟Peace...", she simply said and closed her eyes. The explosion of her orb did nearly no damage at all. The energy was simply blocked out by the magic shield. Ahri found her balance back, and summoned her orb again. She would need something more, if she actually wanted to defeat Karma.

_Ahri? Can you hear me? _A voice suddenly said in her head, the exact same time when Karma attacked. She summoned the blue tether again and fired it at Ahri, targeting her legs.

'Not now!' Ahri quickly thought and jumped to her side, but the blue tendril caught her anyway, holding her in place. Karma didn't waste any time, and ran towards her.

‟Lath Rian Oune Vi! Saera!" The magic shield surrounded her again. It pulsated with energy. Ahri quickly tried to get some distance between them, but her legs were rooted in place. She couldn't move! The shield exploded in a wave of jade-green. Ahri needed to close her eyes, and raised one of her hands before her head. The blast sent her flying, and she slid over the ground.

‟Ouch..", she complained quietly. She thought it would hurt more, but everything seemed to be rather fine for now. She looked down on her, and saw how her clothing was damaged at some points, like spears would have penetrated her body there. Blood dripped out of several wounds, but she felt fit enough to continue fighting.

She got up from the ground, luckily Karma was now busy killing the minions at her tower, giving her enough time to fall back. _Ahri. Take one of the health potions. _Yuno said in her head. She sounded really concentrated, and slightly exhausted. Was that really that hard for her?

'That fight is not very even', Ahri replied in her head, while she grabbed one of the red flasks from her belt. She opened it, and without hesitation drank the red liquid. Just as she swallowed it down, she instantly started to feel better. Some of her wounds closed, and the bleeding stopped. At least for now. She stretched her arms and legs and prepared herself again.

_My master always said the best training is against strong opponents._ Yuno replied in her head. Her voice sounded a bit amused, even though sometimes it was hard to understand what she said.

'Are you okay? You sound a bit...strange', Ahri thought while walking back into the lane. The minions were now back in the center of it, the same distance away from both towers. Karma held her distance for now, focusing on the minions.

_I'm okay...it's only a little bit strange to communicate like this. _Yuno answered. Ahri heard a sound like she would take a deep breath.

'Any idea what could work against her?', Ahri asked again, while sending out a bolt of energy to kill one of the low health minions. She carefully watched Karma, every step, every motion she made. She was silent right now and stood still. Only sometimes she sent out a small ball of green energy to farm.

_Don't get grabbed by her blue tether. Besides of that..no. Can't you use these blue flames again? _

'I don't have any idea how to summon them', Ahri replied annoyed. If everything would be so easy, like some people thought...

_You know that I can read your mind? _Yuno said pouting.

'Damn it. Sorry...I didn't want to offend you', Ahri quickly apologized. She needed to become accustomed to the fact, that her summoner could read her mind like an open book. It was still a strange feeling that not even her thoughts were her own on the Fields.

_You get used to it. But, now we need to focus back on the fight. _

Ahri shook her head and summoned her orb again into her hand. Karma still stood behind her minions, attacking the red ones. When she spotted that Ahri got ready, green energy started to flow around her arms.

‟Are you prepared for the next round?", she asked calmly. Her eyes started to glow jade-green just like they did before. Ahri took a deep breath before answering.

‟I am. Bring it on!", Ahri exclaimed.

This time she was more prepared what to expect from the duchess. She sent out her blue tether again, this time aiming at her stomach. Ahri quickly jumped to her side, using one of the minions as cover. It didn't work out the way she wanted. The tether just flew through the minion, like it was nothing, grabbing her stomach and holding her in place.

'Shit!' Ahri gathered her magic and threw her green glowing orb at Karma, which shielded herself again. The detonation was strong enough this time to penetrate her shield, killing some minions in the process. Ahri saw how some parts of Karma's skin looked burnt from the impact, but it didn't stop her. She tried to get some distance again, but she couldn't move. Her whole legs were surrounded by this blueish tendrils, holding her in place.

‟By force of will", Karma spoke. A burst of jade-green flames emerged from her hands and body and spiraled itself against Ahri. With no chance of avoiding it, she simply raised her arms to cover her face.

It was a strange feeling. The last thing she remembered was that she hit the ground. She heard how the announced loudly proclaimed: **‟****First Blood! Ahri has been slain!" **Then she blacked out.

She was floating between the worlds again in the strange dark and black world. She heard absolutely nothing around her, only eternal silence. Slowly she opened her eyes again and looked around. It was...somehow the same feeling, like she would get summoned. Even though, when she looked down at herself, she still saw how her body was burnt and bloody at several points.

So..this was dying in the League? It didn't feel that bad. It didn't hurt, like she feared it would. Especially after her first match on the Fields. She remembered the pain as the daggers drilled themselves into her body. She shivered shortly.

Suddenly, she heard how someone moaned in her head. Then an annoyed sigh of frustration combined with some very creative curses.

'Yuno? Is that you?', she asked.

_Yeah...I'll try to resurrect you...hold on a second. _The young summoner answered. It was silent again, even though only for a brief moment.

Ahri let out a short shout of surprise, as a blue light started to surround her again. The darkness around her vanished in the blink of an eye and was replaced with the..well other darkness and shadows of the Proving Grounds. Even though Ahri could finally see something else than blackness.

She shortly stumbled from the sudden feeling of ground under her feet again, and looked around. Everything seemed to be completely fine. She looked down on her and saw no blood, no burnt skin, nothing. Even her clothing was completely repaired and fine. It was like nothing happened.

_Damn...don't die again, alright? It's really complicated to resurrect you! _Yuno complained in her head.

'Stop complaining. Do you think I like it?', Ahri replied amused. Yuno let out a short sigh. Ahri stretched her arms and legs again. She felt completely fit and ready again. She walked over to the shop and looked at her gold count, which showed about 1200 gold. 'Anyway..what next?'

_Huh...well. You need some more power..buy an 'Fiendish Codex' for now. You can build that into a Deathfire Grasp. _Yuno suggested.

Ahri quickly found the item, it was a badge showing something like a small book with a strange white rune written on it. She used it just like the ring, and felt how the energy traveled through her body even stronger than the simple ring. It nearly was like a drug of some kind.

_Alright then. Let's get back to the lane, right? _

'Yeah..let's show her..', Ahri replied and started to run out of her base, followed by a new wave of minions.

**Several hours later...**

Ahri was lying on her couch within her room and looked at the ceiling. She felt like a train drove over her multiple times. Her match didn't go that well for her. Even though after her first death, Karma was a bit more passive and actually let her try something new and creative, she was never able to kill her even once. Instead, she took a heavy beating again and again.

She didn't know how often she had died, she hadn't counted it. But, well.. she presumed at least five to seven times. She felt sorry for Yuno, which needed to resurrect her every time. Luckily, she didn't continue to complain about this, and instead tried to give her some combat tips. Nothing of it helped though.

After the match, they shortly spoke with each other together with Martin. They agreed to continue the training on another day, again together with Karma. Ahri agreed, as she didn't have much choice either. She needed every combat experience she could get.

Ahri looked over to a clock. It was still one hour until she could get something to eat within the mess. With an annoyed and loud sigh, she rolled onto her sigh, nearly falling down from her couch. She had tried to learn her new abilities. But, it never worked pretty well. She had summoned the blue flames only once, and only for a short moment. The dashing the summoner did on the Fields with her, wasn't that easy either.

‟God dammit!", she exclaimed loudly and threw a nearby pillow against one wall. Just as she ended her cursing, she heard how someone knocked against her door.

‟Ahri? I know you are there", a well known voice said from outside.

It was Leona. Ahri's frustration was suddenly replaced with simple joy. She really liked it to be around and together with Leona. She rolled down from her couch, hitting the ground before she stood up. She passed a mirror and shortly looked into it. At least she looked good, a bit chaotic, but good. Ahri opened the door.

Leona stood there, even though this time she didn't wear her armor and instead something like a long golden-purple robe. Ahri spotted the same golden symbols on the robe as on her armor. She looked even better in such light clothing than in her full armor.

Leona studied her curiously, before Ahri started to realize that she just continued to stare at Leona. She blushed heavily and shook her head.

‟Eh..hello, Leona", she started a bit embarrassed. 'What exactly is wrong with me?', she thought for a second. ‟What is it?"

‟Hi, Ahri", Leona started. ‟Oh, it's nothing really. I really just wanted to visit you and see how you're doing." She gave her a warm smile. Ahri literally melted under it.

‟Oh, nothing really. Just sitting around and waiting for dinner", Ahri replied amused.

‟Do you want to go a bit? We have some time left before it", Leona said with a broad grin.

‟Well..why not?" Ahri slipped into her sandals and closed the door behind her. She then followed Leona through the corridors of the League. ‟Why are you wearing this robe today?", she asked after some time.

‟Oh, it's more comfortable than wearing my full suit of armor the whole day. I had free time today", Leona answered amused. ‟Was about damn time. Getting summoned so often during the last days is not something easy."

‟It looks good on you." Was Leona's face a bit reddish? Or was she just imagining it? Ahri slightly shook her head and continued. ‟Well, it's completely understandable then. I already feel like a train drove over me after one single match."

‟You need some more training, Ahri. Otherwise, you will break down after one match", Leona replied and winked at her. Before Ahri could protest, she nodded before them. ‟Here we are." Ahri looked forward and saw a light at the end of the long corridor. She could hear the sound of birds and...water?

They stepped out of the corridor into the park of the League. It must be lying on top of the mountains. Ahri felt a light breeze on her face, and breathed in the fresh air. Above them was the clear blue sky, even though with the first tones of orange as the sun slowly started to set. The whole thing here wasn't a classical park or garden in any way. It was more like a giant forest with a strange order. Ahri felt the magic in the air. Everything here seemed to be full of it.

Slowly they walked through the small forest. Some strange lights danced between the trees before they disappeared when they got closer to them. She spotted some animals who walked through the forests, but nothing here was dangerous in any way.

After a short walk they reached a big clearing with a lake in the middle of it. Multiple streams flowed in different directions. But, the most impressive thing was obviously the waterfall. A peaceful, and magical place.

Ahri watched as Leona walked over to the lake and sat down. She somehow felt nervous. They were alone now, with nobody around who would disturb them. There it was again. This strange feeling she had before. As calmly as she could, she sat down beside the warrior girl and looked over the lake.

‟How was your little training?", Leona asked. She stretched out her legs, and looked to her side.

‟To be honest: Not that good. I wasn't able to learn a single thing and I died far too often. But, why did they put be up against Karma?", Ahri complained. She leaned back and crossed her legs.

‟Karma, huh? I've met her before..", Leona said thoughtfully. ‟Yeah, you're right. That's not a real fair match then. But, at least..", she added with a smile, ‟you not getting knocked out completely anymore."

‟Always looking on the bright side, huh?", Ahri replied with a chuckle. Leona laughed quietly and nodded. ‟How was your day? Something special happened?"

‟Not really. I just enjoyed my free day for once...", Leona leaned back too. Ahri felt how their hands touched. Only a short moment, and Leona quickly withdrew it. Ahri's heart skipped a beat. ‟Even though I have to admit..you can't do that much, with your free time. They city down there has some things to offer, but well..most of them aren't much fun when you're alone."

‟That's sounds like an invitation for me...", Ahri replied calmly, and watched Leona carefully.

‟Consider it as one", she replied amused, before she turned a bit more serious. ‟You know it's just..I want to be your friend. You were likeable from the very beginning. So..." It somehow sounded like it burst out of Leona all at once.

‟I really have nothing against it", Ahri instantly threw in. A real friend. A person which she really could trust. She didn't remember that she ever had someone like this before. Somehow.. it felt like the first step to something bigger. 'I really need to get my feelings straight', she thought for a moment.

‟Nice to hear that", Leona said with a relieved smile. ‟How about tomorrow? When I heard it right I'll have another free day to relax before the next matches start again."

‟Huh...we'll see. Yuno told me that there may be another training session tomorrow. But, she didn't say when", Ahri answered thoughtfully and tapped against her lips.

‟Who's Yuno? A girlfriend I don't know?", Leona asked laughing. Ahri blushed heavily and shook her head.

‟No, no, no! She's...well you could call it my summoner during my training. She herself is a trainee too", she said, a bit embarrassed. But, why was she so embarrassed in the first place? Why was everything so complicated around this girl?

‟Understood", Leona said with a chuckle. ‟It's nice to hear that...", she added rather quietly.

Ahri pricked up her ears. What did she say? Was it possible that Leona actually...returned her secret feelings? Well, she wasn't sure about her own feelings at this point, so she couldn't really say. They sat there without saying anything else. They just watched as some dragonflies flew over the lake. Ahri felt Leona's hand again at her own. It was a warm, welcoming feeling. Carefully, she grabbed the hand, and Leona didn't withdraw her own.

The sky slowly started to turn into a deeper orange, Ahri could see some of the stars already.

‟I will go back now", Leona said, her voice was nothing more than a whisper. ‟I'll see you tomorrow."

‟Alright. See you tomorrow then", Ahri replied with a warm smile, but what happened next surprised her in every possible way.

Leona shortly leaned over to her side..and gave her a short kiss on the cheek, nothing more than a peck. Thousands of different thoughts and feelings were rushing through Ahri's body, but she couldn't speak nor could she do anything. She just sat there like frozen, with half-opened mouth. For a short moment she asked herself, if she accidentally used her charming magic on Leona, without noticing, but that wasn't possible.

‟A kiss on the cheek is a promise", Leona whispered into her ear, before she walked away and disappeared into the forest.

Ahri still sat there, and still she couldn't believe it. Leona has...kissed her. She actually had kissed her. It was not just a kiss. She received dozens of them from so many different people when she seduced them...this one was different from the other kisses. It was a gigantic difference, then the other ones.

She touched her cheek, and looked at her fingers. Even though her mind was still a complete chaos just like everything else within her body, there was one clear thing within her head. Even though before this moment, she didn't have any concept of it. She seduced so many people, but she had never felt this before.

'You are in love...aren't you, Ahri?'


	7. Foxfire

**Chapter 7**

**Foxfire **

Ahri stood under the shower within her small bathroom. The rather cold water was running down her body. Her eyes were open and she looked against the ceiling. She thought the cold water would help her to wake up...well it did somehow. 'What a night..', she thought and suppressed another yawn.

She hadn't slept well during the night, if she even had slept at all, she wasn't very sure about this. She had rolled from one side to another, without finding any rest. Her head was spinning in circles, thinking about the events from yesterday. The kiss in the park, and then the whole thing with going out with Leona today. She still wasn't very sure about her feelings. Was that really love?

Could she love another woman after all? Yes, she sometimes had some fun with them, playing and wrapping them around her fingers but nothing more. When she saw another couple, it was always a man and a woman. Not two people of the same gender. 'But...does that really matter?', she asked herself, possibly for the hundredth time.

And even if she had an answer to this question, she didn't have any idea, what to do from here. 'Huh..I guess normally someone confess that he or she loves the other person..that's the way it goes, right?', she asked herself and thought about it for a moment.

But, just the thought of standing before Leona and trying to confess, made her feel..strangely. Why was it so complicated all of sudden? Normally she didn't have this problem! She would go to a person and would say what she thought right in their face! She wasn't shy! But..well. Somehow...she felt that she just couldn't walk to Leona and say it. Something inside of her told her, that she should wait for another moment. For a perfect moment to confess.

Even though she didn't know what kind of moment that possibly could be. 'I love you..three words. Only three words. But..ah goddammit!'

She let out a quiet sigh of frustration and stopped the cold water. Humans and love. That was by far the most complicated thing, she had ever experienced. It even surpassed her first meeting with other humans, after she had transformed. A meeting which was rather...complicated and well strange would be the right word for it.

Ahri shook her head, and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel in the process. She need to focus on the now. Besides..first things first. Her match with Karma would take place, before she would meet with Leona. She sighed again. 'Well..let's see what happens. At least I can get a new dress when we're in town', she thought slightly amused while putting on her usual attire. Wearing the same clothing again and again was far too boring.

Before leaving her room, she checked her make-up and hair one last time. Everything seemed to be perfect. She took a deep breath and left her room, walking into the direction of the mess.

* * *

Ahri sat in the mess and looked around curiously. It was already somewhere around ten o'clock usually far too late for breakfast, but she didn't care. Luckily, the mess hall was rather empty during this time with only a few summoners around, which didn't pay much attention towards her. They all looked rather tired, just like she felt. Maybe some of them had something like night shift or so.

While she searched for Leona, she spotted another person who entered the mess. 'Karma', she thought, and looked at the entrance. The Ionian leader looked around the hall, and when she spotted Ahri she walked towards her. Like usual, she wore her exposing dress. Even though today she had waived her decoration.

‟Good morning, Ahri. Can I have a seat?", she asked friendly, when she arrived at her table.

‟Of course, duchess", Ahri answered with the same respect, like on the fields. She carefully watched Karma, which sat down on the other side of the table and crossed her legs.

‟You don't have to call me like this. We're in the League.. here we are, all champions with the same 'rank'. Just call me Karma", she replied amused, and Ahri nodded.

‟If you insist, I will", Ahri said, chuckling. ‟What brings you here?", she added curiously.

‟Oh, nothing really special to be honest", Karma answered. ‟It's just that our little trainings match has been suspended for today. Summoner Martin wanted to inform you, but you didn't open the door for him." Karma smiled at her for a moment.

Ahri blinked a few times. Someone has knocked against her door? ‟Huh..well..guess I was still sleeping then", she replied, before her curiosity took over again. ‟Why was it suspended?"

‟Yuno doesn't feel that well. Martin told me, that she may overextend herself during the training match", Karma explained calmly. ‟He didn't want another summoner for you. He wants that you and Yuno get acquainted with each other."

Ahri somehow felt responsible for this. Yuno had told her that resurrecting her was exhausting, and she died so often. She must have shown some form of grimace, as Karma slightly shook her head. ‟Don't feel responsible, Ahri. Martin said it's rather normal that the first summoning process is really exhausting for newcomers. She'll be fine."

‟I'm glad to hear that", Ahri replied and let out a short sigh. Maybe she would check Yuno later on. She was her summoner after all. ‟Even though.. that aside, I wasn't much of a challenge, was I?"

‟You just haven't mastered your magic. That's all", Karma answered casually and smiled.

‟You noticed this?"

‟It wasn't that hard to see. I also spoke with Martin about this topic", Karma started, while she clasped her hands. ‟I may be able to help you with this."

Ahri pricked up her ears and frowned slightly. ‟How can you help me? To be honest..I'm not suited for combat at all", she replied with a short sigh. She started to wonder, why she was in the League in the first place. Everyone here was more or less a fighter, but not her.

‟Let me tell you something: I wasn't a warrior either. I learned it the hard way during the Noxian invasion of Ionia...by defending my village against an Noxian general", Karma explained. ‟It's more or less the same thing with you..the only difference is, that you don't need to fear for your life within the League."

Karma winked at her, before continuing. ‟Maybe I'm able to teach you some tricks and give some advice how to master yourself. You should come back to Ionia to the Placidium. There I can help you more effectively than here within the League."

Ahri thought about this offer for a moment. Traveling back to the scene of her crimes wasn't something she would find pleasing. But, on the other hand...what did she have to lose? Nothing really. And she could use some training, because on her own, it would take weeks or maybe even months to master the magic. Time she most likely didn't have. There wasn't much of a choice for her.

‟I accept your offer!", she replied confidently, and earned a short nod from Karma. ‟But I got one question...I can just leave the Institute like this? I mean I will be away for a few weeks at least", she asked and frowned for a moment.

‟I will speak with Martin about this, and you probably should do this before you leave too. Then it's fine. If there isn't anything urgent, the League normally accepts journeys like this", Karma answered calmly. ‟Besides..it's fitting for me. I'll have to go to Ionia anyway. And even though I'm normally very busy during this time, there will be some spare time for us."

‟You need to go back?", Ahri asked confused.

‟You do remember the Festival of Fire, don't you?", Karma asked with a chuckle.

‟Oh...of course, I do. It's this time again?" She really liked the Ionian festivals. The Festival of Fire was the most well known, even for people from outside of Ionia. Celebrations, magical spectacles and much more was to see during this festival. And during the last years, it lured many different people from all over Valoran to Ionia. A flourishing business for the Ionians.

‟It is, Ahri. I will await you then. The festival starts in one week. When you leave tomorrow there will be enough time for you", Karma explained before she stood up again. ‟Oh, and of course you can bring someone along if you like." She laughed quietly, before she left the mess, leaving a confused and slightly embarrassed Ahri behind.

'She wanted to imply something, right?', Ahri thought for a moment, but decided not to think about it too much. Could she ask Leona this? She couldn't confess, but asking her to come with her to Ionia wouldn't be that hard, right?

Ahri sighed and ate up. Nothing seemed to be easy with Leona, even though normal talking wasn't that hard for her. But, talking about _specific_ topics..well. She stood up from her seat and started to walk out of the mess. Leona would possibly search for her for their little tour through the city, and waiting in her room was most likely the best idea.

Just as she stepped out of the hall, she nearly crashed into the person, which gave her a sleepless night.

‟Oh, eh..sorry Leona!", she quickly apologized.

‟Woah..head in the clouds, huh?", Leona replied with a broad grin. She obviously decided to go with a more...casual look today, wearing some kind of purple tunic with a fitting skirt. A pair of sandals, looking like the one Rakkor soldier would wear, rounded out her outfit.

‟A bit yeah", Ahri said, amused and eyed her from top to bottom. She was surprised by the fact, that Leona showed off that much of her tanned skin, not that she wouldn't enjoy this view. ‟Nice look", she commented.

‟Thanks! I guess that's more fitting for the city down there", Leona replied with a chuckle. ‟So are you prepared for our little..huh..what should we call it? City tour?"

'We could call it a date', Ahri thought, but decided against it to speak it out loud. ‟That's the best description. I was just getting informed that my match has been suspended for today", Ahri explained. ‟So..I have free time for the rest of the day."

‟Perfect timing", Leona grinned broadly, ‟Same thing goes for me. I got another free day and was informed just half an hour ago. So..shall we go now?"

‟Let's go. I really hope to find a new dress there..even though my money count is...well not much anymore", Ahri answered before they started to walk through the long corridors again. She shortly touched the small pocket on her belt. The few coins she felt, were the last ones left. Normally she would have stolen the money from the people she killed, or simply using her magic for benefits.

Well, as she didn't do anything like this this during the last months the few coins she had just vanished one after another.

‟Did anybody explain you some of the advantages of being a champion of the League?", Leona asked her on the way.

‟Advantages? Besides becoming a full human, you mean?", Ahri asked confused for a moment.

‟Let's just say, the League tries everything that their champions feel comfortable here", Leona winked at her. ‟No need to worry about money at all. The League gives their champions a certain amount of money they can spend. Everything you buy...you can write on your allowance."

‟Money rules the world, huh? Even here close to the League", Ahri replied with a sigh. Leona chuckled quietly.

‟I guess so", she replied amused. ‟Even though normally you don't need that much. The League does and give you everything..the money is nothing more than a addition."

‟A good addition. The League gives me everything, yes..but wearing the same dress over and over again is getting boring with time", Ahri said giggling. Leona laughed quietly.

The entrance hall of the League was just like usually crowded with people. Most of them were summoners, wearing all kinds of different colored robes most prominent blue, purple and red ones. Some champions were here too, talking with them. It was rather noisy in this hall, but luckily they didn't stay that long, and passed the hall quickly.

While they walked down the giant staircase which led them to the city, they passed numerous summoners and other persons. Most of them looked like some form of servants who worked for the League. Ahri overlooked the town from up here. It was still pretty impressive. The train station in the middle of it, where just at this moment another train departed in the direction of Piltover, combined with the thousands of different houses.

Architecture from all over Valoran was to see reaching from the typical half-timbered style from Noxus to the stone and marble buildings from Demacia and the modern houses of Piltover. It was a colorful picture from up here, nearly looking like some sort of collage.

‟So...where do we want to go first?", Leona asked, when they reached the entrance of the city.

Directly at the bottom of the staircase were dozens of different booths built up. Merchants shouted at each other again, while the crowd listened to them amused. Left and right dozens of shops has opened, selling all kinds of goods reaching from jewelry, to food to more clothing. Between the endless mass of people, Ahri spotted some guards of the League which pushed themselves through it. All in all: It was the typical chaos of a big city.

‟I don't have any idea..let's just stark walking and look around. We have the time", Ahri answered with a grin.

‟Aimlessly wandering through this city..seems fine for me", Leona replied with a shrug.

They started to walk through the streets of the city, and Ahri enjoyed every single moment of it. She was back under normal humans and then so many different people, but not alone anymore. This time she had someone at her side. She was even successful in pushing out the thoughts of confessing to Leona. Now wasn't the time for it.

They stopped at dozens of different booths and shop windows. Ahri was surprised what someone actually could buy here. The most fascinating shops were more or less the Piltovian ones, which sold different kinds of technology, which Ahri nor Leona had ever seen before. But, the most interesting for Ahri were the Ionian clothing shops. Ionian dresses were still the best.

She stopped before one store and looked into the window, and she instantly found something interesting. Even though this piece of clothing looked more like some kind of military outfit. It was like someone grabbed a traditional Ionian armor, removed the metal and made it more revealing to everyone and less protecting.

The upper part of the clothing was red and black and made out of leather. Also it was very revealing, showing of the left and right side of the stomach and parts of the back. The shoulders were protected by some kind of black shoulderpads. The lower parts of it, reminded her of a pretty short skirt, surrounded by a golden sash. The skirt was decorated with different Ionian symbols together with the golden symbol of a flame.

The remaining outfit was clearly military. Red-golden, fingerless and thick gloves, which would protect her entire lower arm were combined by black, kneel-high leather boots which were again decorated with golden flames.

Even though she wasn't much into military things and stuff, this outfit already looked really nice. She heard how Leona stopped and came back to her, eying the outfit curiously.

‟You like this?", Leona asked her amused.

‟Mhm..it seems a bit too..militaristic for me, don't you think?", Ahri asked back and grinned shortly.

‟Well, it clearly looks very revealing. But, well..you're showing off much of you now, aren't you?", Leona answered amused and tapped against her lips. ‟Well..you should try it on." She stepped into the shop, directly followed by Ahri.

‟Ah! Champion of the League, Leona the Radiant Dawn...and how radiant you are today. How can I be of service?", someone asked them just as they entered the shop. It was an older looking woman, wearing a long, typical Ionian dress. Ahri somehow felt like she was back on Ionia. Even they smell within this shop smelt like the one from her..well she would call it her original homeland.

The shop was rather empty right now, with them being the only customers. Dozens of different garbs and outfits were presented here together with fitting shoes, accessories and even jewelry and some weapons. A shop Ahri already started to like.

‟Greetings Yuel", Leona greeted the shopkeeper with a short smile. ‟Well, my friend over here wants this nice looking garb from the windows." Leona pointed behind her towards Ahri, which showed a short confused face.

‟You know each other?", she asked, before remembering her good manners. ‟Eh..sorry. My name is Ahri. I'm one of the new champions of the League", she introduced herself shortly.

‟Oh, yes we know each other well enough", Yuel answered with a smile. ‟Our little sunshine girl sometimes visits me. Even though during the last weeks not that often." Her voice sounded playfully offended.

‟I was very busy", Leona defended herself, and laughed quietly.

‟Yeah right", Yuel replied amused and stepped out from behind her counter, where the register stood on. She carefully looked at Ahri, taking a sense of proportion. She once walked around her. Ahri somehow felt a bit strange to get inspected like that. ‟Huh..it would definitely fit you really nice. You have the perfect body for it. And to be honest...I make a special price just for you! Want to try it on?"

‟Eh..yes. Thank you ma'am", Ahri replied and watched as the woman walked over to the window grabbing the garb and handed it over to Ahri.

‟Try it on over there." She pointed at a separate part of the salesroom. Ahri nodded and walked into the small room. A long, red curtain hindered anybody to spy on her while she changed.

Within the small room was nothing more than a small bench together with a big mirror. She heard how Leona and Yuel talked with each other just outside. Ahri still could hear some scraps of the conversation together with the sound of metallic clothing hangers.

Ahri quickly undressed and put on her new leather outfit, which was at some points slightly complicated as it was rather tight. Yuel definitely had a very good sense of proportion. It suited and fitted her perfectly. The leather was not too hard, it was rather soft and flattered her skin. She could easily move around freely, and it didn't hinder her movements at all, like some other hardened leather outfits did.

She stretched her arms and legs and looked at herself in the mirror. Yes, the outfit was pretty revealing just like she imagined. But, well, it didn't was that much of a difference in comparison to her old dress. She already started to love this outfit.

She looked at her old clothing which she had placed on the bench. She wouldn't need them right now. She pulled back the curtain and walked back to the selling room.

‟Well..what do you say?", she asked amused. Leona and Yuel looked at her curiously and eyed her from the top to the bottom. Playfully Ahri turned around once, showing off what she had. She earned a quiet whistle from Leona.

‟Yep, fitting you absolutely perfect, Ahri. It's presenting the very best of your body", Leona complimented her with a smile.

‟Thanks you!", she replied with a bit of red color in her face. She watched Leona, which just continued to look at her. It looked like that she was enjoying the view.

‟Hm..but something is definitely missing", Yuel thoughtfully said, before she snipped with her fingers. She walked back to the counter and grabbed under it. She opened a small casket, and brought out a necklace, which looked more like some sort of leash for a dog. It was in the same coloration like the garb Ahri wore, together with a small pendant, showing of an Ionian symbol for a single word. Fox.

She handled the necklace over to Ahri, which put it on. She looked at the symbol, slightly confused by the written word.

‟Now it's perfect, Ahri!", Yuel said with a grin.

‟Yep. That was the final touch", Leona added amused.

‟Thanks you two. You have a really good eye", she replied in the direction of the shopkeeper with a short smile.

‟When you're doing this kind of business for thirty years you get an eye for details", Yuel replied with a chuckle.

‟But, one question though..why is the pendant saying 'fox'?", Ahri asked curiously.

‟This outfit has a little neat story behind it. It is said it was created with the inspiration of one outfit a gumiho once wore", Yuel started to explain and earning a confused face from Ahri and Leona. ‟Oh, I see. You don't know your own story, huh?"

‟My own story?", Ahri blinked multiple times completely confused. ‟I mean..I heard the word gumiho before..."

‟It's a story I've heard as a child within my village", Yuel started. ‟I don't want to offend you...but your ears and tail reminded me of it."

Ahri simply nodded and looked at her back. She nearly always forgot about her tail. It was simply there, but nothing more. Even though when someone would walk over it, it would still hurt pretty much.

‟I'm interested too. Can you tell us the story?", Leona asked curious.

‟Of course, I can. We have the time..and no other customer is around", Yuel answered amused, before she raised her voice again.

* * *

_There was once a normal hunter, living somewhere at the border of a giant Ionian forest. He was well known within the nearby village for his bad luck. Everything what could happen to a person, happened to him._

_One day he went inside the forest in search for his traps he set up for another day. But, when he walked deeper and deeper into the forests, the sun was replaced by strong rain and a thunderstorm. In search for a dry place he found a nearby small rock formation, where he set up shelter until the storm was over. _

_Unfortunately for him these rock formation where the living place of a giant bear. He already thought that his bad luck once again caught up on him, but somehow he was lucky this day. Before the bear could kill him, someone appeared out of the forest. It was a young, beautiful girl, wearing a black and red leather outfit. But, the most impressive thing about her were nine tails on her back and fox ears on her head. _

_Before the bear could strike, the girl sent out blue flames at him, killing the bear in the process. But, before the hunter could thank her, she quickly vanished into the forest without a trace. _

_He quickly returned to the village and told everyone the story he just witnessed. And the elders of his village told him about a mysterious fox spirit who roamed the forests. They also told him to stay away from it, as the spirit might get angry at intruders. _

_But, the hunter didn't listen to them. The spirit helped him out once. She wasn't dangerous! _

_The time passed. During the next month another incident happened to him. Thick fog blocked his view nearly entirely and slowly he got lost in the forest, he normally knew so well. But, again he was rescued by the mysterious girl. She only appeared briefly before him with nothing more than an orange flash of light, guiding him back to his house and out of the forest. _

_But, that wasn't his final meeting. On another day he was getting attacked within the forest. But, not by some animal. He was attacked by some angry forest spirits. But, again the mysterious girl came out of nowhere rescuing him before they could drain his life essence out of him. But, this time the girl stayed and collapsed. Maybe she was exhausted? Or ill? _

_The hunter caught her and quickly brought her back to his village. But, when he told everyone what happened to this fox girl, and as soon as one of the doctors of the village wanted to help her, she suddenly started to change, while being watched by dozens of villagers. The foxy features on her disappeared and all that was left was a normal human girl. Since then, she lived together with the hunter she had helped so often before. _

_Since then it is told, that fox spirits are wandering through the southern forests of Ionia. Spirits who are trying to help humans in order to get turned into a real human themselves. They were called 'gumiho', which means nine-tailed fox. But, nobody has seen such a spirit during the past dozens of years..._

* * *

Yuel ended her story with a short smile at both of them. But, Ahri somehow started to feel bad. She started to feel ashamed of herself. She tried to convince herself that this was only a story, made up by some old, superstitious Ionians. But, she just couldn't push out her bad feeling. Blue flames...the one she could possibly summon. Fox ears...a fox tail. There were far too many similarities with her.

Her mind was flooded with pictures of her own past. She had never even considered to help humans, had she? The first thing she had thought, when her transformation was complete, was to kill more humans in order to get their souls. Feeding on their desires to become a human one day.

She slightly moved around her ears, and her tail in a motion that nobody would realize it. She was in the League right now, but nothing had changed. Maybe, she wasn't able to transform into a complete human anymore. Maybe it was a punishment for her sins in the past. Staying a half-breed forever.

She remembered her judgment. The League only said that they could help her with her problem...they never said, that they would turn her into a real human.

She wanted to cry, scream out her anger. But, she couldn't do that. Not here, not with other people around. Ahri tried her best to stay calm and looking casual. At least acting was the one thing she perfectly mastered during these years.

‟That's an interesting story", Leona spoke again after a short moment of silence. ‟Hey, Ahri. That's good news, right?" Leona smiled at her warmly.

‟Sounds like this. So..Yuel you think I'm one of these fox girls? Gumiho, right?", Ahri asked and tried to cover up her nervousness and uneasy feeling. 'I'm such an horrible person...', she thought, but forced herself to a smile.

‟From the look of yours, yes. Even though you only have one single tail instead of nine", Yuel explained with a smile. ‟Well..seems the story may be true."

‟Well, Ahri. Then you know what to do from now", Leona said encouraging and smiled at her. The warm smile of this girl...it was somehow enough to push away any dark thoughts. It was enough to make her feel better.

‟Helping out humans, I guess", Ahri replied and smiled back shortly. She made mistakes...but maybe she could redeem herself, when she would change now. Maybe it wasn't too late for her. And if it was too late...then she would live on with her disgrace.

‟Anyway the clothing you wear now was made in the style of the one the girl wore. The creator called it 'foxfire'", Yuel explained calmly. ‟You want to keep it on?"

‟Well..why not? It suits perfectly fine and I really like it", Ahri answered shortly.

‟Good, good. I will send our old clothing back to the League. I'm writing it on your allowance, right?", Yuel asked with a short grin, and grabbed a small book from under the table.

‟Exactly!"

‟Well..want to try something else on?", Yuel asked them both grinning.

‟Could use a new summer dress, I think", Leona answered and laughed.

They stayed in the small shop for the next hour. Yuel showed them dozens of different garbs, clothing and so on. While they tried on different sets, garbs and jewelry, Ahri tried to push away any dark thoughts. She was unofficially on a date with Leona. She could brood on about her personal problems later on!

After drinking a small cup of tea together with Yuel, and after Leona finally found a new summer dress, an orange skirt with a fitting yellowish top, they left the small shop entering the loud streets of the town again.

‟So..where do we go next?", Ahri asked calmly. She watched the crowd walking here, before turning to Leona.

‟Hm..do you ever ate ice cream?", Leona asked her and started to walk towards the direction of a small cafe. At least the sign above the main entrance let Ahri guess it was something like this.

‟Never. It's something from the mainland?", Ahri asked curious.

‟If I knew it right, it's coming from Piltover. Wouldn't believe that you can turn ice into something delicious." Leona grinned shortly.

They sat down on a sunny place outside of the cafe. A waitresses came to them, and Leona ordered them their ice cream. Ahri looked around. They were sitting at some sort of main plaza with a fountain in the middle of it. It distantly reminded her of Piltover somehow, most likely because the surrounding buildings were all built in this style.

‟So what do you want to do next?", Leona asked her and thanked the waitresses who brought them two big glasses filled with different colored ice reaching from brownish to a pinkish color.

‟I haven't told you yet..but Karma invited me to Ionia", Ahri explained while picking up the spoon. She carefully ate some of the different colored ice. It tasted delicious like strawberry and chocolate, even though most of this ice was a bit too sweet for her taste.

‟Ionia? Why?", Leona asked while she happily ate her ice cream. It was easy to read from her expression that she really loved it. To see her like this, smiling and simply happy...Ahri literally had butterflies in her stomach.

‟Well, she wants to teach me some tricks to use my magic..also the Festival of Fire is taking place", Ahri answered. ‟One of Ionias biggest festivals, I should add."

‟Huh..seems like a good opportunity for you then. Learning something about yourself", Leona winked at her. ‟How long will you be away?" Her voice somehow sounded a bit unhappy about this situation.

‟I presume a few weeks, but well..there is something I need to tell you", Ahri started and took a deep breath. She gathered all of her courage now. ‟Karma also said, that I could bring someone along with me me...and I wanted to ask you..well..would you come with me to Ionia?" If only asking such a small question was challenging, how could she ever confess her love?

‟An invitation to Ionia? Of course I will come with you!", Leona instantly replied. Her voice sounding cheerful about this.

‟Thanks!", Ahri said happily. She suddenly felt something inside of her. She had asked herself, what the perfect moment, possibly could be...and now she somehow knew it. She would confess to Leona. She would confess to her on Ionia.

They continued with their date for the entire rest of the day, and Ahri let herself enjoy every single moment of it. Walking around the city streets, talking about anything and everything, visiting dozens of different shops. Laughing, relaxing...and just having a good time until the sun started to set in the distance.

It was then, when they started to walk back to the League. where Ahri happily fell into her bed, and dreamed about Leona, about kissing her. For this moment..there was just no place for dark thoughts left. Her head was just filled with happiness and joy.

**Somewhere else...**

His steps through the long hallway echoed slightly. The torches on the walls flickered slightly. The sound of rattling chains was to hear in the distance combined with the quiet echo of screams. Two guards stood before one metal door. Highest Security area.

‟You're not allowed to walk here", one of them said and grabbed his sword, the other hand tightened the grip around his halberd. The guard was right. But, it didn't interest him today. He had an important job to do.

‟Out of my way, fools." An invisible might suddenly hit the two soldiers, knocking them both against the walls. They were not dead, only knocked out for a while. ‟Be happy that I don't kill you today", he said grimly.

The man had a small object with him. It distantly looked like a red gem which reflected even the weak light of the torches. He smiled shortly, before opening the metal doors using his magical abilities. 'Death row...nobody will miss these people. You will serve me well for my purposes...', he thought before walking through the doors.

* * *

**Author's Note **

Yay! Foxfire Ahri and Pool Party Leona! :D Only a small update: School has begun again here in Germany, so the next chapter may take a little longer. I will try to upload one chapter per week or at least every two weeks..but well..it may take longer.


	8. Journey to Ionia

**Chapter 8 **

**Journey to Ionia **

**Somewhere...**

‟That's the situation and my plan."

The woman started to laugh quietly. ‟Pathetic. If you do this, the League will know for sure."

‟I want revenge on this damn...whore."

‟And that's your best plan? Oh my god..I'm surrounded by idiots."

‟So, what's your deal Cecily? You want to continue to sit around, doing nothing?"

‟Unlike you, I'm planning my next steps carefully. Let me make myself clear... if you are going to do this stupid thing, nobody else will help you anymore."

‟Fine for me. I will open the eyes of the League and your eyes! You've been blinded by power."

‟I simply know her potential. And I'm not a woman who wastes resources. "

‟Fine, then we're finished." The woman laughed again quietly.

‟We obviously are. I'll be watching this whole show from here."

‟Do whatever you want. I am the one who will show her true nature." The other person left the big room, leaving Cecily behind.

The woman leaned back and clasped her hands. She grinned broadly. ‟Such insolence. He's just going after everything I did for him." She looked to her side, were some big cages stood around with different birds inside of them. Owls, raven. Some of them looked at her, others were sleeping.

‟But well..it'll be fun to watch him, running into his own demise."

Cecily leaned back in her chair, and continued to read her book.

* * *

Ahri was humming quietly to herself, while she packed her bag with everything she would need for her journey. It was early in the morning, but she was already up what was unlikely for her. 'Huh..this...and this..', she thought in a jovial mood. She already wore her new bought outfit, and decided to go with fitting make-up for it. Fiery red. She even considers to dye her hair, but that was maybe slightly too much.

She let everything passing through her head, while she packed. Mostly, of course the date from yesterday. She was surprised how easy it has been to forget the dark thoughts, while being around Leona. And even though they were still stuck within her mind, she has made a pact with herself. From now on, she would be an example citizen of Valoran. No more killing, no more ambiguous decisions. Instead, she would be helpful, protecting the innocent..just like Leona had told her on another day.

'Huh..maybe I listened a little bit too much to her', she thought amused.

And when this wouldn't help...well. It would be her punishment from now on. She remembered the little girl from her journey to the League. 'You're ears and tail are looking pretty cool..', she had said to her. Ahri smiled for a moment. Maybe, she could live on like this...

A sudden knocking against her door, interrupted her thoughts harshly. 'Huh?', she thought confused. It couldn't be Leona, as it was far too early for her to be here. Besides, they wanted to meet at the train station down in the city fifteen minutes before their train would depart to Piltover.

She walked to the door and opened it. A well known summoner stood there, smiling at her, his cane in hand. Summoner Martin. He had put down his hood, maybe as a gesture of respect towards her.

‟Good morning, Ahri. How are you doing?", he asked friendly.

‟Good morning, Martin! Oh, well..I'm doing fine", Ahri answered friendly, with a smile on her face. ‟How can I help you today? And what are you doing here so early in the morning?"

‟Oh, I just wanted to talk before you leave. Karma already told me. Can I come in?"

‟Well..I'm packing right now..and I don't think you need to spy on my underwear and things like these", Ahri answered slightly amused.

‟Oh, an old man like me is not interested in things like this anymore", Martin replied with a chuckle. ‟Thirty years ago, maybe...but not anymore. Besides...we need to talk about something important." His voice turned more serious during his last sentence and even his expression went more grim.

‟Did something happen?", Ahri asked and frowned slightly. She made space that the older summoner could enter, and closed the door again. She made sure that the door was locked completely. Ahri watched as Martin sat down on the leather couch. The inside of her main room was slightly chaotic, with different dresses lying around everywhere together with everything else she may need for her journey.

‟What I will tell you now Ahri, is completely unofficial", Marin started and let out a sigh. ‟There was a time, when the League didn't need to have secrets before the champions..but well."

‟Before we start..I've made some tea. Do you want some?", Ahri asked politely.

‟Oh, that would be great", Martin answered with a short grin.

Ahri walked into her small kitchen and grabbed two cups, which she filled with the tea. Some sort of Ionian tea, which she had bought yesterday within the town. It has been one of the most expensive teas within the small shop. 'Hopefully it's worth it', she thought amused. She grabbed the two cups, and returned to the main room, giving one of them to Marin. She sat down onto a pillow at the table, cup in hand.

‟Thanks, Ahri", Martin said, and Ahri simply nodded. ‟Alright, before we start..do you still have the mind-block ring I gave you?"

‟Of course. I'm never laying it away", Ahri answered and showed her ring finger with the small red ring on it. She never left her room anymore, without putting this little trinket on.

‟Good to see, because like I said everything here is unofficial..so you want to keep it a secret to most persons", Martin stated. He shortly nipped at the tea, before continuing. ‟Well, let's start from the beginning. And with that I mean your first match on the Fields. We searched every record, but we didn't find a clue. We're pretty sure by now that it was someone named Shana...which is still missing from the League, may I add", Martin explained and stroke through his long beard.

‟Huh..to be honest, it doesn't interest me anymore. It was a mistake, that's it", Ahri said and waved. She shortly drank from her cup. The tea was delicious. Best Ionian quality. The price was completely fine for it. She looked up to the summoner. ‟But, you want to talk about something else, right?"

‟Yes..otherwise I wouldn't visit you that early before you leave the Institute", Marin started and let out a short sigh. ‟Besides..it isn't a topic a champion would like to hear from the persons they serve."

‟Huh? What exactly are you talking about?", Ahri asked, confused and frowned slightly. She leaned on the table, and watched Martin, which stroke through his beard.

‟Let me say it like this: They're people within the summoner council, who aren't your best friends. In fact..they may be your enemy", Martin explained calmly. His voice somehow sounded slightly worried.

‟One question first: Who's this council? I've never heard of them before", Ahri threw in. She somehow had a bad feeling about this whole topic.

‟The League has many different councils, and some of them are not officially known by anyone outside of the Institute. Because the League has so many different tasks and need to uphold a complicated peace, they're these councils who work on these tasks. One of them is the summoner council. The main focus of its members are the new champions, and intern matters of the League", Martin explained and nipped from his tea again.

‟Okay", Ahri simply stated. ‟And within this council..I don't have many friends? I'm fine with this...as long as they're not unnerving." are looked at Martin's expression, which showed off some frustration. Ahri let out a short sigh. ‟It's not that easy, right?"

‟I'm afraid not. First things first..I stand completely behind you. In my humble opinion you're a..special person", Martin shortly smiled at her. ‟Someone on a long quest for her humanity."

‟Thanks for that..but it's not necessary. I know I can trust you", Ahri replied with a charming smile. Martin and Yuno were the two summoners, which she somehow blindly trusted. Even though she didn't know why exactly.

‟It's nice to hear that. But, well let me get to the point now. Some summoners within the council are trying to get you out of the League, and they probably do whatever is necessary to achieve this goal. They're pretty hotheaded", Martin explained calmly.

‟How can they be summoners of the League? Aren't most of the summoners obliged to neutrality?", Ahri asked, while her head already started to work.

‟The councils have summoners from all city states within them together with the League summoners. They're not bound to neutrality...you could call them ambassadors", Martin answered calmly. ‟I just wanted to tell you one thing: Keep your eyes wide open while you travel. I'm the chairman of this council and prohibited them to do anything against the rules of the League. But..we don't have the capabilities to keep an eye on them around the clock."

Ahri understood and nodded. ‟I will. But, still have one question left..why do they hate me in the first place? Have I done anything wrong?", she asked confused again.

‟They possibly think that you're a dangerous threat for Valoran. Some said that you will continue to steal souls under the protection of the League. I know that it sounds ridiculous", Martin answered and let out a sigh of frustration.

‟Huh...alright", Ahri stated slowly and rubbed over the back of her head. ‟Thanks for sharing this with me..just like I said..I will keep my eyes open." She would need some time to think about this whole new situation.

‟If it encourages you...attempts like this happened with some other champions too. It ended well for them, as our political opponents couldn't change the mind of the whole council." Martin's voice sounded encouraging and he smiled.

‟Well...somehow", Ahri replied with a short grin. She looked up to the clock for a second. ‟Well, I continue with packing now, if you don't have anything against it. Oh, and...I'm sorry that I couldn't visit Yuno. Could you wish her a 'good well' from me?"

‟Of course, I will. She's still bedridden for the next days...poor thing. Maybe, it was too much for her as she's so young", Martin said and let out another sigh. He stood up from the couch and slowly walked towards the door, Ahri followed him.

‟Tell her I'm sorry for this. I didn't want that it ended like this", Ahri said and felt guilty for a moment again.

‟She doesn't blame you, Ahri", Martin said and opened the door with a simple gesture of his hand. ‟One thing though...you probably should tell Leona about our little conversation here. I personally told Karma everything I know about this, and she will keep her eyes open as well. But, I didn't have the time for Leona..and as far as I know you two are good friends?"

Ahri tried not to blush to heavily and simply nodded. ‟We are friends, yes. She will come with me to Ionia...we will have some time within the train and on the ferry so I can tell her everything. Thank you again."

‟Alright, alright", Martin said thoughtfully. ‟Oh, and another thing. The tea was very nice, Ahri. If you could organize some of it from Ionia..", the old summoner added and laughed quietly. ‟Well then. Have a good, safe and hopefully helpful journey."

‟Thanks, Martin. Oh, and I will...if I remember it", Ahri replied amused. Martin then left her room, slowly walking down the hallway. The sound of his cane hitting the ground was echoed through it. Ahri closes the door again, and leaned against it for a short moment, crossing her arms while doing so.

She had a bad feeling within her gut, but couldn't say why in the first place. It felt like something was going on behind the scenes. People within the League, and of all people summoners, were trying to get her out. How could someone like her be dangerous? Hell, she couldn't control her own magic at all. But, well..

'I will show them, that I'm not a dangerous threat to Valoran! I turned into a better human..being', she thought and clenched her fists. Nothing changed. The new situation only strengthened her resolve. She wasn't a monster, and she would show them!

She pushed herself away from the door and continued with her packing. She should be finished within half an hour, otherwise she would be late for her meeting with Leona at the train station. She would be together with Leona...for days! Only they with no one else around...hopefully she didn't mess it up at some point! That was the last thing, she wanted right now.

But, the good feelings predominated the bad ones. This journey would help her in many different ways. 'A perfect moment...is approaching', she thought while grabbing another dress and putting it into her bag.

**Later...**

It was a pretty warm and sunny day today. It was nearly a little bit too hot for Ahri. Coming from a colder land, this temperature was nothing for her. Why in the world did somebody built the entire League in such a nearly desert with nothing around? She continued to curse in her head all the way through the city.

She felt how some sweat was running down her face. Or maybe it was because of her luggage. A backpack together with another shoulder bag. She really had bought far too much new clothing, which she wanted to take with her now. 'Huh...a noblewoman's problems..', she thought slightly amused.

After a short walk, she stepped into the train station of the city. Within it it was far colder than outside, a welcoming difference for Ahri. Within the main hall hundreds of people were walking around. Some looked like personal, but most of them were obviously travelers carrying bags and cases with them. From the look of their clothing, it seemed that most of them were Ionians and Piltovians.

'Probably they go back to Ionia as well..', Ahri thought, while she sat down on a nearby bench, placing her backpack onto the seat beside her. Some booths and other shops were built up inside the hall as well, mostly selling some kind of snacks or souvenirs.

Ahri stretched her arms, before she looked up to the destination board, searching for their train to Piltover. After a short moment of confused searching, she finally found it. 'Departure from platform two...in fifteen minutes', she read in her head. So, she got plenty of time left and Leona wasn't here as well so...

‟Guess who it is", a person suddenly said behind her. Her voice sounded badly acted like some kind of rogue. Two surprisingly soft hands covered her eyes from behind. Ahri waited for a moment and her fine ears heard the sound of some moving metal pieces. Even though, she knew it from the very beginning.

‟That's not that hard, Leona", Ahri replied with a broad grin on her face. The hands were taken away from her eyes, and she turned around on the bench.

Leona stood there, wearing her normal suit of armor again, even though she went without her giant shield, and only carried her sword and a simple backpack on her back. She didn't wear any kind of gloves, but Ahri spotted them on her belt. Just like usual, she was an impressive figure. The warrior gleamed with pleasure, and smiled.

‟I guess not. When anyone else would do something like this, these persons usually don't have good intentions ", she said amused. ‟How are you? Everything well?"

‟I would say, yes", Ahri nodded and jumped back onto her feet. ‟And you? Wearing your full set of armor today?"

‟Well, I can't leave with a light summer dress, can I? Most people have an image of me as a radiant warrior..guess I can present this shining image of myself during our journey. Besides, I have some obligations to the Solari there", Leona explained with a short grin. ‟But, apart from that everything is fine. And, hey! I already left my shield behind!"

‟Always so formal, huh?", Ahri replied and winked at her. Leona let out a short sigh.

‟Well..maybe?"

‟But, you're definitely an eyecatcher with this outfit. Everyone will notice you", Ahri added and grinned. Leona blushed for a moment. Ahri felt a warm glow within her body.

‟Thank you for that", Leona shortly replied. She looked around for a moment, before she changed the topic rather drastically. ‟I've never traveled with a train before. I arrived here with a horse and after that I've never left the Institute anymore."

‟I traveled once with one...when I arrived here from Piltover. It's not that bad", Ahri said with a short shrug. ‟Anyway. You can go to platform two, I will buy us the tickets. I'll see you there."

‟Okay." Leona nodded at her. They both walked away into different directions, even though Ahri didn't know where to buy tickets in the first place. After a short moment of confused searching and looking around, Ahri finally found it.

After a short talk with the older woman behind the ticket counter, Ahri held the two tickets in her hands. The most expensive ones of course. Since, she could afford nearly everything by now, there was no need to be sparingly. Luckily for them, the ferry to Ionia was already included.

‟Train to Piltover will depart in five minutes from platform two!", a female voice echoed through the train station.

Ahri quickly put the tickets into her shoulder bag, and walked over to the second platform, which was still crowded with people who boarded the train. It looked nearly identical to the one, which brought her here. She spotted Leona within the crowd, and walked over to her.

‟Alright, got the tickets. First and best class from all!", Ahri said, amused and knocked against her bag. ‟Hopefully they're worth it."

‟The cheaper ones would have been alright, too", Leona replied and opened one of the doors of the train. They walked in, and pushed themselves through many other people who searched for free seats everywhere.

The first class wagon was completely different then the other one. Every passenger or group of passengers had their own small cabin, complete with closable door and so on. They quickly found a free cabin and stepped in. It was pretty comfortable. Two leather benches for them, a small table close to the big window and above them a shelf for their luggage.

After storing all of their bags away, they sat down. And only a short moment later, the doors of the train slammed tight simultaneously. A loud whistle rung, and the train started to move out of the city. The view outside quickly changed from the city streets to the wide and boring steppes and deserts with only bushes and cacti around.

‟So..", Ahri started and looked at Leona. ‟What do you think of train travel?", she asked grinning broadly.

‟Actually not that bad", Leona answered and leaned back against her seat, crossing her legs. ‟Comfortable, fast..and you actually could sleep during the journey. Piltovians have some crazy ideas."

‟Piltover will be even more exciting, believe me! I nearly forgot my original goal there for a moment", Ahri said with a chuckle. ‟

‟I've heard stories from there from Caitlyn and Ezreal. Some things are hard to believe to be honest...but well. When I see people like Orianna who run around within the League..", Leona replied with a short shrug.

‟Isn't she this robot like thing?", Ahri asked, and Leona nodded.

‟Yeah. She's kinda creepy. Her voice sends chills down my spine and how she moves...like a clockwork would work inside her. You know..I heard rumors that inside of her metal body a crazy summoner has placed the soul of his own daughter", Leona explained and shivered. ‟Creepy."

‟A living soul inside a machine? That's disgusting", Ahri asked unbelieving. 'But, well...I don't have a talk in that, have I?', she thought grimly for a moment.

‟I've heard so..maybe it's only rumors...but well", Leona answered and shrugged again. She looked out of the window again, when they passed a large group of cacti. Ahri decided to change the topic for now.

‟The landscape here is pretty boring. Deserts and steppes...nothing exciting. I always thought that the mainland would be a bit more magical at some points."

‟I've heard that here was once a big forest and wide meadows. Before the rune wars, I mean", Leona explained and looked out again.

‟It's pretty hard to imagine, that here was at some point something else then sand. What would be needed to cause such destruction?", Ahri asked.

‟I honestly don't know. But, I'm happy that I didn't live during these times", Leona said with a short smile.

‟I guess you're right about this one." Ahri thought about it for a moment, and decided that now would be the perfect timing to tell Leona about her conversation with Martin and everything else what has happened to her during the last time. ‟Leona? You know..I need to tell you something."

‟You seemed to be troubled", Leona replied and her face turned more serious now. She leaned slightly forwards and watched Ahri carefully. ‟What is it? Did something happen?"

‟Well..let me start from the very beginning. It will take a while", Ahri said and then she started. She told Leona the whole story, beginning from her very first match which was nothing more than a mistake until the most recent events with Martin. After a while she finally finished with her explanation of the events. Leona leaned back against her seat, her arms and legs were crossed and her expression thoughtful.

‟Summoners within the League who are trying to kick you out...", Leona repeated thoughtfully. ‟It's the first time I actually heard about something like this."

‟Martin said the League normally don't talk about something like this. Everything I told you is unofficial", Ahri replied calmly.

‟Ts. It's a shame that political intrigues take place within the League, which should be a noble organization...not another place for things like this", Leona said grimly and frowned. ‟And they want to use everything necessary?"

‟Martin said it like this, yes. Whatever that means..they're summoners after all, so it could be anything. The possibilities of magic are endless", Ahri answered and let out a short sigh. She somehow felt bad to draw Leona into this whole thing, which was more kind of a personal problem.

‟So, everything we need to do is to keep our eyes wide open and be very careful from now on", Leona stated simply. ‟Sound's easy enough."

‟What worries me more, is the reason why they want to kick me out. Martin said it's because I'm too dangerous...", Ahri said worried and let out a short sigh of frustration. ‟But, I ain't a real danger, am I? I mean I can't control my magic at all."

‟Huh...", Leona said and tapped against her lips, before replying. ‟I don't think you are a danger. What I saw from you until now, gave me the picture of a noble Ionian woman. Not a dangerous person like..eh..Karthus for example."

‟Thanks for that..", Ahri said and her face turned slightly red for a moment.

‟And..", Leona added confidently now. She slammed her clenched fist against her breastplate that it clanked. ‟One of the League's best protectors is with you on this journey..you shouldn't worry that much." Leona winked at her with a broad grin.

‟I never thought, you could be that arrogant!", Ahri exclaimed, and laughed quietly and relieved. Leona joined in.

‟Hey, I'm only telling you the truth", Leona protested, before she turned serious again. ‟No, but what I want to tell you is, that I will protect you if something happen. Don't worry too much about this thing. Just enjoy this journey for now."

‟Thanks, Leona...but I can watch out for myself too!", Ahri said and nodded seriously. Even though she said something like this, right now she wanted to jump at Leona and hug her. 'That's a real friend..well more for me..', she thought shortly and tried her best to hold back her tears.

‟Oh, yes! I saw that on the Fields. When we come back from Ionia, maybe then I will accept this", Leona said, while raising one of her fingers like some kind of teacher. ‟Until then you will go nowhere without me. Understood, young girl?"

‟Ts! As if I would hear on you", Ahri replied and started laughing. Leona grinned broadly.

‟We'll see what happens, right?", she said, and stretched her arms and legs. ‟So...I never visited Ionia. Maybe you could tell me something about your homeland? The journey is still long, right?"

‟Huh..telling you something about Ionia? Well, why not?", Ahri replied and started to explain everything she knew about her 'homeland'. The rest of their journey with the train was filled with talking about Ionia, Mount Targon and everything else what was on their minds.

Hours later they heard an announcement through the entire train. ‟Arrival in Piltover in five minutes. This is our last stop so everybody please get out of the train! Don't forget your personal belongings!", a male voice proclaimed, most likely the train driver.

‟Here we are. Let's go then!", Ahri said motivated and grabbed her bags. Leona quickly followed her example, and they both walked towards the exit of the train. With a light jolt the train came to a halt, and the doors opened automatically for them. ‟One thing though..don't get too overwhelmed by Piltover", Ahri added with a grin.

Leona sighed shortly. ‟It's a different world here, right? Well..let's go."

They stepped into the train station, which looked exactly the same like before. Even these metallic beings were here again, guarding the whole place. Even though this time with only one police officer around to keep them in check. But, the crowd and noise were exactly the same like Ahri's first time in Piltover.

‟Uah..more Orianna's?", Leona asked quietly, while they walked through the hall and passed one of the robot guards.

‟Not that much..they don't have a soul. But they stay creepy as hell. I don't know how they can live with things like this together", Ahri answered and swallowed. Two of these robot guards looked at them for a moment with their glowing blue eyes. They quickly lost interest in them both, obviously recognizing them as champions of the League.

When they stepped out, Ahri heard Leona's astonishment about the city. Even though around the station the buildings were smaller, most of them were still higher than the city buildings of the city at the mountainside of the League. Some of these strange horseless vehicles passed them, one of them with the label 'Police' and 'PPD'.

‟That's...impressive. And strange at the same time", Leona said and followed Ahri through the streets.

‟Well, these are only the suburbs as far as I know. The main city nearly shocked me during the first time...even though you can go shopping here pretty good", Ahri replied with a broad grin, while she started to walk, Leona directly behind her. Ahri slightly remembered in which direction they needed to head, to reach the docks of the city.

‟Gosh... this city.. I've never seen anything like this before. And I thought I already saw much within the League, but this..", Leona said with a short sigh. ‟How can they live with so many people together?" Leona pointed at one smaller skyscraper, which looked like an apartment building of some kind. ‟On Mount Targon everyone of us has their own house..."

‟I honestly don't have any idea. The city is nice and all..but living here is nothing for me. Overcrowded, and far too...strange for people like us. I guess you need to grow up here", Ahri replied. She shrugged. ‟But, well..we're not here for that long."

‟How long exactly? Not that I want to hurry or something like this..but..well. I want to hurry, alright?", Leona said with a crooked smile.

‟Well the controller in the train said something about three hours before the ferry is departing...a time we will most likely need", Ahri answered. They got controlled once during their travel, even though, as champions things like this weren't really necessary.

‟Three hours? Is Piltover that big, that we need so long?", Leona asked confused.

‟No. But, there many distractions where we possibly could stop", Ahri answered and stretched out her tongue in Leona's direction. Leona let out a short moan. ‟Hey. Ionia will surely be better for you", Ahri added with a chuckle.

‟Alright. Fine. Let's get going."

They walked through the giant urban canyons of Piltover, passing dozens of different shops, theaters and so on. Ahri tried her best to stay focused, but she often enough ended up standing before a shop window and looking at some nice dresses or other clothing. Luckily or unluckily for her Leona was always there. When she stood there too long, Leona simply grabbed her, sometimes even at her ears, and pulled her simply with her.

Even though, Leona herself was often enough distracted by some other shops, and she admitted that Piltover was a strange, but fascinating town at the same time.

After three hours, they finally arrived at their ferry which already waited at the docks fully loaded and ready. A long line of passengers waited to get on board. They waited for a short moment until they finally could get aboard the ship.

While she walked up the gangway Ahri looked back to Piltover and overlooked the city. 'Nothing has happened to far...maybe Martin is just a bit too careful in the end...', she thought and walked up the stairs entering the ship. 'Anyway...Ionia..I'm coming back.'

One person stood in the shadows of some buildings, watching the giant ferry. He saw how Ahri boarded the ferry to Ionia and smiled to himself. He stepped out of the shadows and walked to the gangway, hands in his pockets. His long black mantle flew in the light wind. A fitting hood hid most of his face before the public. ‟The show is about to start, Ahri. No demon can hide his face forever behind a mask of beauty. Let me show the world...your true face", he said quietly and smiled self-confidently.

He entered the ship as its last passenger. The gangway was pushed away, the leashes loosed, and the ship started to move towards its goal. Ionia.

* * *

**Author's Note **

We got a badass over there! Alright, I admit it! The last scene was heavily influenced by some amv I watched before writing it. :P


	9. Way to Enlightenment

**Chapter 9 **

**Way to Enlightenment**

**A few days later...**

Ahri felt a light sea breeze on her face. Her long, black hair was slightly flying within the wind, while she looked into the distance. The sun already started to rise at the horizon. It looked spectacular how the water was colored orange and yellow. But, her main focus was lying on the approaching island of Ionia, which came closer quickly.

During this early light and even from this distance she could already see the small houses at the docks of Narbori, the different ships which were painted in all kinds of colors, coming from all city states on Valoran. Well, with the exception of Noxus and Zaun of course.

She stood at the bow of the ferry, together with Leona. They had their bags already packed and with them, so that they could leave the ship as soon as it docked. The last days of her journey, where the most pleasant ones Ahri had experienced so far. They had spent much time together, not uncommon as you barely could avoid someone on a ship, and have enjoyed their free time.

Ahri looked to her left side, where Leona stood, leaning onto the railing and looking into the distance as well. She smiled at her for a moment, and Ahri simply returned it. The sun warrior looked beautiful. With every ray of sun, it looked like her armor and partly even her body started to glow with new found energy. She was truly the avatar.

To be back again in her homeland, brought back memories. The good ones, but also the bad ones. Even though it never has happened, Ahri really hoped she wouldn't run into family members of the people she killed. Even though after she had consumed the life essence and the soul, the bodies quickly started to disappear...family members still would ask where their members were. But, with no real trace, it would be hard to follow her steps, wouldn't it?

'Hopefully everything will go well...', she thought and took a deep breath. She was under League protection, and here because Karma invited her. But, well..she was a fox after all. A cunning creature. She would always find an emergency exit, no matter the situation.

She was obviously becoming more human, because thinking about something like this right now. About something, which never bothered her before. Ahri smiled to herself for a moment.

‟So...what are we going to do now that we reached Ionia?", Leona asked calmly, looking in the direction of the harbor.

‟We need to head to the Placidium. It will take us rather long even with horses", Ahri explained and tried to recall a map of Ionia within her head. ‟We can get horses at some stables here within Narbori."

‟Huh..alright sounds fine for me", Leona replied and nodded slightly. ‟When is the start of the festival?"

‟Tomorrow will be the official start of it. But, when I recalled it correctly some activities already starts tonight", Ahri answered and stretched her arms. ‟That means we possibly need to look for a room in an inn. Seems like the whole harbor is already full and I don't think the Placidium will look any better." Ahri pointed forward to the docks.

‟The Ionians just accept this? I mean..on Mount Targon we have very rarely guests of any kind. Nobody likes to travel to this height...and they're not very welcomed either." Leona let out a short sigh.

Ahri remembered that Leona had told her about the scarce sources of food on the mountain and that everyday life was pretty tough from time to time. ‟Well..I can't say much about this. Maybe you should ask Karma or Irelia about this stuff", Ahri replied and rubbed over the back of her head.

‟We'll see them soon enough, I think", Leona said and took a deep breath of the fresh air. ‟To be honest..I'm happy to get ground under my feet again. I'm not suited to be a sailor at all."

‟You're coming from high mountains..it's obviously no wonder, right?", Ahri replied with a smirk. ‟But, hey..I didn't do any better during this storm a few days ago." They got into a big thunderstorm once. An experience Ahri never wanted to repeat. She nearly threw up her food once during the storm. But, well..it didn't suit her so she locked herself up in the cabin and just waited.

They felt a slight jolt going through the ship when it rammed the docks. From their position at the bow, they could overlook the whole scenery at the harbor. It nearly looked exactly the same, like Ahri had left the island. Booths were built up everywhere and sold the same goods. But, even more people were around today. Ionians, Demacians, Piltovians and even some Yordles. She spotted some guards who tried to maintain some kind of order, but it was a rather futile attempt.

They heard how the motor of the ferry stopped. Orders were yelled throughout the entire ship, down to some dock worker, which yelled back and finally moored the ship. The gangway was pushed and the passengers could finally leave the ship.

‟Don't forget your personal belongings! Have a pleasant stay on the island of Ionia!", the captain's voice echoed through the entire ferry.

‟Well...shall we?", Leona asked and grabbed her backpack, together with her sword.

‟Let's go. We better don't let Karma wait for too long", Ahri answered and smiled. With that, they left the ferry and finally had ground under their feet again. A strange feeling after so many days on the sea, but a welcoming one.

‟I'll just follow you, alright?", Leona said behind her, while they pushed themselves through the crowd of people. Luckily for them, some recognized Leona as a champion and made some space for them when they passed.

‟Ahri? Leona? Hey! Out of the way, please!", a voice loudly shouted to overshadow the noise of the thousands of people who seemed to walk here. A single female soldier pushed herself through the wall of humans, followed by some more soldiers. Ahri instantly recognized her. It was Irelia, leader of the Ionian guard. The soldiers behind her wore the same kind of armor, just like Irelia.

‟Irelia! Glad to see you around here", Leona exclaimed, when they finally met each other. Irelia smiled shortly. Like usual her blades were hovering around her, together with the Mantle of Decorum.

‟Karma ordered me to welcome you both in Ionia as soon as you arrive", Irelia explained them. ‟I'm also ordered to lead you to the Placidium...so if you don't have anything against it, we can leave Narbori right now."

‟Nothing against it. We wanted to go there anyway, as Karma told me to meet her there", Ahri threw in with a smile and Irelia nodded.

‟Good. Then follow us", she turned around and started to walk through the crowd. The guard made enough space for them to easily pass. ‟So..how was your journey?"

‟Uh..alright, I would say. Nothing really special happened", Ahri answered . ‟Even though I don't need another thunderstorm. That wasn't a very pleasant experience on the sea." Irelia laughed quietly.

‟The sea can be harsh during this time of the year. I'm glad you're fine...Karma told be about some strange things and events and worried that something may happen during your journey", Irelia said more quieter now, even though within all the other noise it was impossible for anyone to understand them anyways.

‟Nothing has happened so far. Everything went surprisingly smoothly. But...Karma told you?", Leona threw in and frowned slightly.

‟Yeah. She said it would be better if some more people know about this whole situation", Irelia answered with a short sigh. ‟You have an explanation for this, Ahri?"

‟Not really. I don't know anything about it myself", Ahri answered and looked down for a moment, before she added, ‟but maybe when Karma finished her training with me."

‟We'll see. Until then you're under the protection of the Ionian guard and myself", Irelia stated and nodded at Ahri. ‟I will not allow that some crazed summoners trying something stupid on Ionian citizens."

‟Now you have three guardians around you, Ahri. How does it feel to be such a center of attention?", Leona asked amused. Irelia grinned broadly.

‟Stop treating me like this!", Ahri complained loudly. ‟I'm not a child who needs around the clock protection", she grumbled quietly. The other two laughed quietly and they continued their walk through the heart of the city a giant plaza.

Ahri felt a light gust of wind on her skin, which let her hair fly behind her. 'Huh?', she thought and looked over her shoulder for a moment. She had a feeling..like someone would follow them through the city. But, everything she saw were normal citizens, which didn't pay much attention towards her.

She frowned and used her magic. But, the only thing she felt were the normal life essences of ordinary people. Here and there she felt some latent magical energy within some, most likely young summoners or something like this. But, nothing really special. 'Damn you Martin...', she thought and quickly caught up to the other two.

After a short walk through Narbori, their small group arrived at the stables. A few horses stood there, saddled and completely ready. The reins were held by a few other soldiers. Irelia asked them to wait, while she talked with the stable master for a moment.

‟You can ride?", Leona asked her, while they waited for her 'leader'.

‟More or less", Ahri answered shortly. ‟I wouldn't try a race through a thick forest..but riding on a simple street, shouldn't be a problem."

‟Good to hear that...then it won't take us a too long", Leona replied amused and crossed her arms again. Ahri looked over her shoulder again, watching the crowd. She tried her best to spot someone suspicious. Someone who didn't fit into these mass. But, nothing. She felt a armored hand at her shoulder, and looked to Leona, which came closer.

‟You're alright? You're looking...nervous", she asked quietly, and worried.

‟I'm fine..", Ahri answered shortly. She lowered her voice until it was only a whisper. ‟But, I have the feeling that someone is following us, since we left the ferry."

To her surprise Leona nodded. ‟Yeah...I have the same feeling. But, no matter where I looked there was no one to see..", she replied in the same quiet tone. ‟Maybe Martin was right after all...keep your eyes open until we arrive in Placidium. I have your back." The warrior winked at her, before standing tall again, arms crossed before her chest.

‟I will..", Ahri stated and waited together with Leona, until Irelia was finally finished and returned to them.

‟I assume everyone can ride?", she asked. The group nodded. ‟Good", Irelia said. ‟We will ride through Xuen valley...it's the shortest and safest route to Placidium."

'And we can avoid Coeur Valley...', Ahri thought shortly. She remembered the valley and what happened back then, surprisingly well, even though she was a fox during this time.

She had felt massive magical energy, panic within the souls of humans. Her curiosity brought her to the aftermath of the battlefield within the valley. She could see the molten faces of soldiers, dead and wounded bodies who were lying around everywhere. She also remembered one single female soldier, which escaped the battlefield and passed the bush in which she hid. It was the place, where she transformed.

All in all it was a place she tried to avoid. There her crimes started, everything up to this point now started there. And even though not everything was bad...well. She still didn't like the valley.

A stable boy gave her the reins of a purely black horse and she mounted up on her. It took her a short moment to get adjusted to the feeling, after all she only had ridden a horse a few times. Leona and Irelia mounted up too, together with four of the guards.

‟Alright then..let's go. It's a long ride, and we won't make any breaks during it", Irelia exclaimed and started to lead them out of the city. Some guards saluted and greeted them when they passed the gates, and entered the mainland of Ionia.

The Ionian landscape surrounding the city was overwhelming for anyone who wasn't used to see it. Narbori itself was surrounded by wide fields, filled with a muddy brown water. The most common plant within these fields was rice. Dozens of people worked within these fields, some of them recognized the passing troops and waved at them for a moment. Irelia raised one of her hands and greeted them politely.

Ahri looked into the distance where she spotted some great mountains. They were so high that Ahri could see snow on their peaks. Also there was some kind of monastery built on the mountain, maybe for some monks or summoners who trained their skills far away from civilization so nobody could get hurt if something went wrong.

At the mountainside were wide, thick forests a common sight in Ionia, as most of the country was covered with them. Inside these forests some ancient structures stood, giant towers and on top of them different crystals were floating. Ahri knew that these structures supplied the Ionian regions with magical energy. She had heard that some of them were built during the Rune Wars, maybe as some form of tower like the one on Summoner's Rift.

On their long way towards the Placidium they passed numerous hamlets, villages and even some small taverns and monastery who were built up along the way. It was obvious that these streets was a very common road, used within Ionia. Most of the inns were filled with people, some were obvious colored clothing to indicate where they were coming from. The festival was indeed a very big celebration.

‟That's pretty impressive", Leona said stunned, after they rode a while. It was easy for them to make progress, as most streets in the southern parts of Ionia were extended and 'improved' by Noxus as a mean of easy transport for their troops.

‟Well..that's the natural beauty of Ionia, I would say", Irelia replied, rubbing over the back of her head. One of her blades twirled slightly around her. ‟It took our summoners long enough to repair the damages from the war."

‟I heard they used some kind of chemical weaponry?", Ahri threw in. ‟I don't know much about the conflict though..." 'I was only a fox after all', she added in her thoughts, but decided against it to speak it out loud.

‟Yeah, their melter weaponry destroyed most parts of our country and corrupted the land. We were able to restore the land..but some points are still corrupted. Like Coeur Valley for example..there's a reason why no outsider is allowed to walk there", Irelia explained with a short sigh.

‟I heard stories about the war...and you have my heartfelt sympathy for everything what has happened", Leona said respectfully.

‟Well..thank you." Irelia shortly smiled, before she continued. ‟But, we can't grief forever on about this. After all, we were victorious against Noxus, and now that we joined the League peace is finally restored."

Leona nodded. ‟The League may have it's errors, but at least it does this job pretty well", Leona said with a chuckle.

Ahri just continue to listen to both of them, but she herself remained silent as this topic wasn't one for her. And of course there was still one thing which continued to nag on Ahri. The feeling of being followed around by someone. Was she becoming paranoid? There wasn't any kind of magic in the air, there was nothing to be suspicious right now. And yet...

* * *

‟On their way to Placidium, huh? What are you doing here anyway?" The man had his hands in the pockets of his black mantle, a smile on his face.

‟I'm just a watcher right now. Wanted to see how this fool is running into his own demise."

‟Always out for the fun. He has potential..why wasting him like that?"

‟He's blind. He's searching for misplaced revenge on her...but allow me a question, too."

‟Sure."

‟What are YOU doing here?"

‟I was and I will always be the neutral person between you two. I'm helping him out. Besides I think his theory about her, is worth testing."

‟Are you a fool like him, too?" The man laughed and pulled up his hood.

‟I'm not a fool. But, you're getting bored with the time. Besides..I always wanted to see something really spectacular."

‟You're telling me, you do everything because you're bored?" The woman's voice sounded unbelieving.

‟Boredom, revenge and using it like a tool. Interesting don't you think? I will leave now...I have a meeting with him in Placidium."

* * *

The sun started to set behind the horizon. The sky itself changed its color to an orange-purple like coloration. The snow on the highest peaks of the mountains glowed in an orange color too. Ahri looked up into the sky and already spotted the moon together with the very first stars of this early night.

She felt uncomfortable. They rode for hours by now, and always keeping up with her motion and following the movement of the horse was exhausting. On a positive side though, they reached the main city pretty fast. Right now, they were riding up a chain of hills. Ahri knew that behind these hills the city of Placidium was built. The very heart of Ionia itself, the seat of power of the elders.

Ahri looked to her side and watched Leona. Even a warrior like herself and someone who was obviously used to ride long distances, she looked exhausted. She smiled at Ahri for a moment, before concentrating on the road again. Finally, they reached the top of the hill and Irelia loudly exclaimed.

‟Welcome to Placidium!" They stopped for a short moment on top of the hill, and looked down from up here. They had a pretty good view over the whole city and surrounding area of it, and Ahri had to admit it, it was always a fascinating view from here.

Just like the Institute of War, Placidium was lying on a mountainside. The valley right below them was the main place for the growing city. Unlike Piltover, which was a strictly planned city, Placidium grew naturally in every possible direction, creating a maze of streets, estates and buildings.

Every building was built in a traditional Ionian style, and even though it was clearly a giant growing city, the Ionians made their best efforts to preserve the nature as well as it was possible. Many of the houses and estates had gardens and inner yards. Within the city borders itself, Ahri could see many patches of green and pink within city parks or avenues. Even in the far distance, where the forges and other industries were built up, Ahri spotted some small patches of nature.

Multiple staircases led up the mountain to the Placidium itself, the seat of power for the Ionian elders. Left and right from these staircases, waterfalls were running down the hill ending up in rivers which flowed through the city and supplying its inhabitants with a natural source of water.

On top of these mountains and above the waterfalls, the most important buildings from Ionia were built. Different schools of magic and enlightenment, and of course the main seat of power of the Ionian elders where they decided the future of their country. These buildings were huge, with giant banners hanging down from them, showing off the Ionian crest. Ahri presumed they did this, to show off Ionias power towards the visitors.

Within the city itself multiple crystals of all colors were flying high above some giant tower like structures fueling every kind of magical device within the Placidium.

Leona was literally speechless, when she saw this. ‟That's...wow. I'm speechless", she said quietly and overlooked the city again. ‟I've never seen anything like this before. You truly live in harmony and balance, don't you?", she asked amused.

‟Well, these two words are most likely the best to describe Ionia", Irelia answered and laughed quietly, while they started to slowly ride down the hill to enter the city, which was protected by a rather small wall. Even though, the city partly grew outside of these walls already. ‟Well, then. I'll show you your tavern in which you can sleep. Karma decided to choose the best for you."

‟Sounds great to me", Ahri said and yawned once. She could really use some sleep right now. ‟When do I meet her again? She told me she would be very busy with the festival."

‟Tomorrow morning. You should come to the Serene Gardens close to the School of Transcendentalism. You know where it is?", Irelia asked her and looked over the shoulder.

‟Yeah. Even though I never was there", Ahri answered and nodded. She took a quiet, deep breath. So tomorrow her training, the reason why she did all of this here would begin. 'Hopefully it helps me...', she thought for a moment. She was staking everything on one card after all. She felt shortly Leona's hand on her shoulder, which smiled.

‟Will be fine, Ahri", Leona whispered to her, and Ahri nodded and returned the smile.

They reached one stable, which was located directly before the gates. They gave their reins to multiple stable boys who worked there. After that, they walked through the main gate of Placidium, which was guarded my dozens of guards, all of them wore the same reddish armor as Irelia did. They saluted when their leader passed them.

As soon as they stepped in they were greeted by the loud noise of hundreds of people who walked here. Ionia was a place of harmony, but right now it was more a city like every other one. Some booths were built up left and ride from the main street, within some trees some paper lanterns hung and from somewhere some music played. It was obvious that the Ionians were already in a party mood.

Most of the booths sold all kind of stuff related to the festivals. Traditional weaponry was sold, together with different masks, jewelry and other trinkets. Most of them showed the Ionian crest, others had different symbols on them describing different character traits. More or less rather cheesy, but popular outside of Ionia.

The most common symbol used thought, was the symbol of a stylized fox. The Festival of Fire was also the new year's day of the Ionian calendar, and every year had a different symbol. Zodiac signs, how they were called in other parts of Valoran.

'A fox, huh? Cunning, intelligent with ambiguous moral compass', Ahri recalled the description. Somehow strange how well it fitted on her. She smiled to herself in amusement. After a short walk through the city streets, they finally arrived at their tavern. A big building, it nearly looked like a small tower located in one of the best districts in Placidium.

‟So, here we are. The innkeeper will recognize you Leona, and give you your rooms", Irelia explained to them. ‟Huh..is there everything else you need?"

‟I think we're fine. Thanks Irelia", Leona answered and nodded at the Ionian hero.

‟I second that. So..tomorrow morning in the gardens...", Ahri mumbled to herself, and earned a nod from Irelia.

‟Yeah..Karma will come as fast as she can. Have a good night..I'll see you tomorrow." Irelia bowed before them, before she turned around and walked away, accompanied by the four guards. She was an impressive figure, Ahri gave her that.

‟Well...let's get in", Leona stated and smiled at her.

‟Alright", Ahri answered and stepped into the inside of the tavern.

As soon as they stepped in, they were greeted by some slightly drunken people who sung some song even though the content of it was hard to understand. But, besides of that the inside of the tavern looked exactly like the one from Narbori. Paper lanterns, thin visual cover for every table and so on. On the other side of the room, Ahri spotted a staircase mostly leading to the rooms.

They both walked towards the counter, behind it stood a young looking man with glasses. ‟Oh, welcome! You're Leona? Perfect! I'll expected you two then", he began to speak, while polishing a glass. ‟Unfortunately for you I'll only have a double room left. Some Demacian emissary came a few hours ago. I couldn't deny him a room, could I?"

‟It's alright for me", Ahri replied and looked over to Leona. ‟How about you?"

‟We don't have much choice, right now, have we?", Leona answered and let out a short sigh. ‟I don't have anything against it."

Ahri took a deep, quiet breath. Being together with Leona in a small room, even in the same bed...maybe it made some things easier for her. Ahri slapped herself mentally. She really should stop to think this way. Confessing her love would need a different approach.

‟Good to hear that. You want something to eat right now?", the innkeeper asked them, and they both denied the question. ‟Alright. Here's the key for you. You find your room in the second floor at the end of the it." He handed over the key and returned to polishing the glass. ‟Don't mind my guests though. You'll not hear the noise upstairs."

They thanked him and walked up the stairs. Leona then looked over her shoulder. ‟I will stay in the city tomorrow, right?"

‟Huh..I guess it will be better. Besides, I don't think my training will me very exciting", Ahri answered and stuck out her tongue. Leona laughed quietly.

‟Alright, fine. Then I'll have enough time to walk around this city. Your home is really fascinating...better than Piltover by all means", Leona replied amused.

‟Happy to hear that..even though I'm not a real Ionian at all", Ahri said and grinned broadly.

They passed a window on their way, and Ahri took a short moment to look outside. She spotted some tree with pink leaves standing in the backyard. On one of the branches some unfitting birds sat. They distantly looked like ravens of some kind. One of them flapped his wings. Somehow...Ahri felt uneasy to see these creatures. The feeling of being followed around returned.

‟You're alright?", Leona asked her worried and looked over her shoulder again.

‟I'm fine...we're lucky by the way. Nothing has happened so far..we reached the Placidium without any incident", Ahri answered and let out a short sigh.

‟You're right about this", Leona said, even though her face still showed some worries. ‟But..eh.. well...if there's anything on your mind..you can always talk with me, okay?", Leona added and smiled warmly at her. Ahri felt the butterflies in her stomach again, and she nodded.

‟Thank you...I will definitely do that!" 'There are things on your mind dummy...you only too shy to tell her', a mocking voice said in the back of her head. She shook it slightly. She would confess! But, of course only when the time was right. She wasn't shy!

They stepped onto the second floor and searched a short moment for their room, until they finally found it. The innkeeper was right. They couldn't hear any noise from downstairs, only the faint sounds from outside.

Leona opened the door for them, and they both stepped into their room looking around curiously. It was really nothing special. A double bed for them, a comfortable looking couch with some chairs and tables. Some pictures hung on the walls showing different locations from the Placidium and Ionia. It was rather dim, and the few paper lanterns weren't enough to light up the whole room. The sun already disappeared behind the horizon and only the stars and the moon were left.

Ahri dropped her bag beside her and stretched out her arms. Without hesitation Ahri started to undress. She slipped out of her boots and gloves. Her dress was a bit more complicated to put down, because of the many different lashings, belts and so on. It took her a while to get out of it. Why exactly did she buy this again?

Finally, she stood there only dressed in her simple underwear. Ahri saw how Leona eyed her curiously from the top to the bottom, but also she saw how the girl blushed slightly. Ahri walked over to her side of the bed, and threw herself onto it, pulling the blanket over her body.

‟You have a really nice body Ahri", Leona commented and started to put down her armor as well. Ahri heard the constant sound of clanking armor pieces which hit the ground. ‟If...eh..I'm allowed to say something like this."

‟You're allowed to do", Ahri replied amused and grinned towards her. Even though, she didn't want to, she checked out Leona while she undressed out of her armor. She was well trained and fit. Everything about her seemed to be perfect in some way. A warm feeling was rushing through Ahri's body, but she ignored it for now. ‟But, I'll give you that too."

‟Eh..thanks", Leona replied with a short blush, before she slipped under the blankets as well, only wearing some kind of purple body.

‟Don't push me out of the bed, during the night!", Ahri exclaimed, grinning broadly. Leona let out a short sigh.

‟As if I would do something like this...don't put your tail on my face and everything will be fine!", she replied with a quiet laugh. She suppressed a yawn and stretched out her arms. ‟Hm...well..then. Good night, Ahri! See you tomorrow morning."

‟Good night, Leona", Ahri said and closed her eyes. She rolled onto her side and partly used her tail as a pillow. But, she didn't fall asleep and instead stayed awake the whole time, until she only heard the steady, quiet breathing of Leona.

She turned around again and looked down onto the sleeping sun avatar. Her face looked so beautiful, even within this dim light of the room. Her lips were like an invitation to kiss. Ahri swallowed for a moment.

'Tomorrow...tomorrow will be the day..I love you..three words', she thought before she finally fell asleep as well.

* * *

**Author's Rant **

I wrote half of this chapter while raging on Riot, so please don't judge it too hard (and I don't have much time next week..and I didn't want that you need to wait two full weeks for a new chapter). That's why this part here is called 'rant' and not 'note' like usual. I just need to blow off some steam.

You may have read the new devblog from Riot which effectively wiped out the League, Summoners and many background stories from champions. You read right. The League of Legends, The Institute of War, the summoners are all non existent in the lore right now. So to make things short: Everything I wrote so far don't have any lore relevance anymore. Hell, even Ahri's complete background story isn't correct anymore (okay partly).

Let me be honest here: That's one of the biggest mistakes Riot has ever made. They literally wiped out the complete lore and replaced it...yeah..with what exactly? Nothing until now. Hell, when they would have destroyed the League..that is something I can work with. Maybe, I would even include it within this story. But, it's just irrelevant now. It never existed in the first place.

I'm feeling a bit frustrated about this. That's simply all I wanted to say. For this story..nothing will change though. How could I change that now? A handful of characters are summoners, the League is bound within the story...

That's it so far. Next chapter will come soon. Until then.

Keydiam


	10. Revelations

**Chapter 10**

**Revelations **

_She had closed her eyes, but she still felt and heard the sound of the fires which surrounded her. She felt how sparks of these fires hit her face and her body. There was no pain. Excitement was within her body, a feeling of overwhelming power rushed through her veins and she enjoyed it. _

_She opened her eyes and looked around. Around here were ruins of once great buildings. Most of them were consumed by flames. Some others already collapsed under their own weight. She looked up into the sky, which was a glowing orange mixed with clouds of ash. Around the buildings she spotted some corpses. Some were burnt, some looked like a wild animal slain them. Claw marks were everywhere over their bodies. _

_She looked down onto the ground. Directly under her feet a single person was lying within the dirt. A young woman soldier to be exact. She had wounds everywhere over her body, blood was dripping out of them, mixing itself with the muddy ground. _

_But even though heavily injured, the soldier still tried to raise her sword, but her weakened body didn't let her do it. The sword nearly slipped out of her hand. Her eyes were filled with pure hatred. Her lips formed words, which the person who stood above her couldn't understand clearly. _

‟_You really hang onto your life, do you?", the person said grinning broadly, going down onto her knees. ‟I appreciate that." With one quick move of her hand, the soldier was killed. The magic spell seemed to drain something out of her body. She was dead in the blink of an eye. _

‟_Kill..kill..kill..burn them all down", the manic person hummed, and continued to walk through the ruins._

* * *

The sun was shining into the small room of the tavern. From the outside some noise was to hear, like some builders started to work. The talking from the people was nothing more than a murmur in the wind. But, it was enough to let her slowly wake up.

Ahri opened her eyes slowly, and raised her head a bit. The bright sunlight, which came into their room was strong enough to blind her for a moment, and she closed the eyes again. She lowered her head back onto her pillow. She wasn't in the right mood to get up, but she knew that she most likely didn't have much choice. Karma wouldn't wait an eternity for her, she had much to organize because of the festival, holding speeches, meeting with emissaries and so on.

She rolled onto her back and looked against the green ceiling of the room. 'Why did I decide for training again?', she thought amused and yawned quietly. She stretched out her arms and legs, and looked to her side where Leona was still sleeping. She breathed quietly and steadily. Just like on the ferry, as soon as the sunlight touched her body, it slightly seemed to glow. Ahri watched her for a short moment, before turning around again.

'I'll better not wake her up', she thought and quietly slipped out of the bed, searching for her clothing. She put on the new garb, and slipped into her boots. As soon as she wanted to put on her gloves, she looked at her hands for a moment. Ahri frowned to herself. Nothing with them was unusual or anything like this.

Did something happen or why the hell did she do this? She wasn't sure about it, she couldn't remember anything from the night. Hell, she even had problems to completely reconstruct yesterday's evening. She was far too exhausted back then. Anyway, when she couldn't remember it, it couldn't be that important, right?

She walked over to a small table. Luckily, for her some pieces of paper were lying around there together with a brush and a small jar of ink. She wrote a short note for Leona, even though it felt slightly wrong writing with a brush the letters from the mainland. She placed it on Leona's nightstand and left the room.

The main room of the tavern was, not surprising, rather empty. The few guests, which were already around didn't mind her and only greeted her shortly, before returning to their conversation partners or food. The smell of fresh tea was in the air, together with the weak smell of alcohol from the day before.

‟Ah, you're awake. Excellent", the young innkeeper said from behind the counter, while adjusting his glasses. ‟You want something for breakfast?"

‟Yeah..not something too elaborate", Ahri answered and sat down on a chair by the counter. The young man disappeared behind a curtain and after a short moment came back again, carrying a tray filled with a typical Ionian breakfast and tea of course.

‟Thanks", Ahri said and nodded thankfully.

‟No problem", the man replied with a short smile. ‟Oh, by the way. Half an hour ago, a messenger from Karma came here."

‟What did he want?", Ahri asked confused, while she nipped at the tea cup and started to wolfing down her food. No time to waste. ‟Something important?"

‟Maybe for you", the innkeeper answered and shrugged. ‟He told me to wake you up, in case you don't come down within the next hour. Karma would await you in the Serene Gardens in two hours. But, luckily you're awake already."

‟Well, that's an important message for me, indeed", Ahri said calmly. ‟Thanks."

‟No problem. You should possibly eat up fast...the gardens a bit of a walk through the entire city", the man said, while he started to organize some jugs behind the counter. ‟And you know about the festival...they have started to build up the whole stages and so on for everything."

‟Yeah, I know about this. Surprisingly, many people from the mainland are here this year, aren't they?" She grabbed a small bowl and drank the rest out of it.

‟Yeah. Far more than the last years...I'm completely booked out", the innkeeper answered amused. ‟Not that bad though."

‟Understandable", Ahri replied grinning, and emptied her tea cup. She pushed the tray back to the innkeeper. ‟Well, I'll better get going. Otherwise, I'll be late. Have a nice day..and give my friend a good breakfast too."

‟Of course, I will! Karma told me to give you both only the best", he said and laughed quietly. ‟Alright. Have a nice day! And good fortune to you." Ahri jumped down from the chair and quickly left the tavern outside on the streets of Placidium.

Just as soon as she stepped out, she was greeted by the noise of the streets. Hundreds of people seemed to be on their feet already, and from everywhere Ahri heard construction noise as the merchants built up their booths. Within this chaos, some, clearly overworked guards, tried to keep everything in order leading the merchants and actors to their places, giving advice to tourists and so on. And from time to time they discussed loudly with some other guests from the mainland.

Ahri pushed herself through the crowd in the direction of the School of Transcendentalism. It was a school where the students learned the way of balance and peace within Valoran. A school which searched for enlightenment for all of Valoran. At least these were the things Ahri had heard about the school. She had never visited it by herself at all, as traditional Ionian virtues like searching for inner peace and enlightenment wasn't something she was really interested in.

While she walked, she watched how everything was built up. Some merchants already started to sell their goods. Ahri stopped before one and shortly looked over the display from some distance. Maybe she should buy something like a small present for Leona? 'That's...how some people do it, right? Buying a present and then talk about the whole thing...', she thought for a moment. She would confess today, so everything needed to be planned carefully!

Ahri touched at her pocket. She still had some gold coins left, from which she could buy stuff here. Writing something on an allowance was most likely not possible so far away from the League. But, screw the money! She would do it like this. It would maybe make some things easier for her to explain to Leona, and it would be a good start to begin with.

She walked over to the booth, behind the display an older looking woman stood and organized some of her goods. She wore a colorful, red and white dress called 'kimono'. She greeted Ahri friendly, and Ahri nodded at her.

Her yellow eyes wandered over the goods and checked them out. Small earrings with different symbols, necklaces combined with fitting pendants and Ionian runes. And of course small rings with fitting gems within them. Nothing of it was really something, Ahri could see Leona wearing. It didn't fit.

‟See anything you like?", the vendor asked her friendly and with a smile.

‟Huh...", Ahri said thoughtfully, before answering. ‟You know, I'm searching for something for a warrior girl. Maybe you know her..Leona from the Institute of War?"

‟Oh, that name rings a bell, yeah", the woman answered. ‟You're a friend of hers?"

‟You could say it like this..", Ahri said and blushed for a moment. The vendor laughed quietly.

‟Well, for a girl like this, you will need something more special." The woman shortly grabbed under the table and carefully showed Ahri a small golden bracelet. Small Ionian runes were written onto it. All of them shone brilliant in the Ionian colors. One specific symbol drew Ahri's attention towards it. The symbol of a dragon.

‟That's... fantastic", she said, and the woman handed it over to her. Ahri turned it around within her heads and nodded multiple times. ‟Yeah, that's absolutely fitting for her."

‟Shall I gift-wrap it? Or do you take it like this?", the woman asked her.

‟Uh...I'll take it like this. Will be fine for her", Ahri answered and searched in her pockets for the correct amount of gold for the vendor. There her last coins went away. 'Totally worth it', she thought amused.

‟Thank you", the vendor said and stored the coins into a small box. ‟Good fortune for the new year."

‟Good fortune for you too", Ahri replied and smiled. She put the bracelet into a small pocket at her belt, before she turned around and walked away, returning to her more important task right now. 'Well..I'll better hurry', she thought. Easier to say than it was, as more and more people woke up and the streets started to get crowded.

The long walk through the Placidium was uneventful. Even though for one short moment, the feeling of being followed returned for a split second. But, Ahri didn't pay much attention towards it. Within this crowd where summoners and soldiers alike walked, it was unlikely that anyone would do any harm to her.

She finally reached the broad staircase which would lead her up to the 'Court of Harmony'. She had never been there before at this court.. well. It wasn't forbidden to be there, but nobody really liked it when someone like her just strolled around at this place.

Ahri started her long way up. Trees lined the staircase on her left and right, together with some small shrines which honored different Ionian elders, war heroes or even the common civilians. Also on both sides were the giant multiple waterfalls, which fell down into two lakes. The Ionians had built artificial channels to use the water for their purposes. She spotted rock formations at these waterfalls, on top of some of these rocks single trees grew with pink leaves. Even there some people had built small shrines.

But, the most breathtaking view was of course the two giant buildings on top of the waterfalls. Both of them looked nearly identical. The lower side of these buildings was built like an arch over the noisy water. On top of this arch was the main structure. A rectangular building with many windows, Ionian writings all over them as well as some decorations made out of jade. And of course the giant Ionian banners, which hung from the buildings showing the Ionian crest.

Around these two main structures, the Ionians had built smaller towers just like the one within the city. It was easy for Ahri to feel the magic within the air, even from down here. The blue crystals on top of the towers spun slowly, glowing with light. All of these buildings were painted in the traditional Ionian colors of red, white and gold.

'Wow...looking at it from here is definitely different than from the city', Ahri thought while nodding at some summoners who walked down the stairs. One of them seemed to recognize her, as he greeted her friendly. She was already somehow famous, huh?

After a few moments, Ahri finally reached the top of the staircase and looked around interested. The 'Court of Harmony' was a mixture of a giant square and a garden. In the middle of it stood a giant statue, made out of jade. The Twin Dragons of Ionia. A few different colored trees were here too, together with benches.

Even though, this square was called 'Court of Harmony' it was rather noisy. Dozens of people walked and talked here. Soldiers in fiery red and green armor, summoners, which were easy to identify thanks to their clothing as well as students from the school, servants and everyone else. It didn't differ much from the lower city.

Directly before her was another part of the city, mostly the famous weapon forges of Ionia, but that wasn't her reason to be here. Ahri shortly looked at a street sign and turned to her left. The Serene Gardens were behind the School of Transcendentalism. She needed to cross a complicated system of bridges directly built over the riptide of the waterfall under her. The wood was wet, and she nearly slipped once.

Ahri slowly started to understand, why Karma wanted her to meet in such a distant place. The gardens were far enough away from any kind of civilization. The noise of the city behind her died down, and was replaced by the quiet sound of birds and rivers. After a short walk Ahri stepped into the gardens.

The Serene Gardens had a strange feeling about them. It looked like a small forest, in which some kind of strange magical order ruled. The whole garden was crossed by small rivers everywhere, and in the distance Ahri spotted another smaller waterfall. All of the rivers came together in the middle of the gardens, forming a giant lake. Within the middle of it a single pavilion stood, connected to the land by wooden bridges.

It was a place of harmony and balance. The smell of incense sticks was in the air, but it perfectly fitted into these gardens. She spotted how some Ionians sat before small shrines in deep meditation, while a few others chatted with each other. Most of them were summoners.

Ahri frowned for a moment. Not only most of them. But, nearly everyone within these gardens was a summoner. She felt the raw magical power within them, which would easily be enough to shackle a void creature. Was it just a coincidence?

After a short moment of searching, she finally found Karma, standing close to the waterfall. Like usual, she wore her opened dress, even though without all the decorations today.

‟Good morning", Ahri greeted friendly. Karma turned around and nodded at her with a short smile.

‟Good morning. I'm happy you came", she replied calmly.

‟How could I not? I'm glad you have some time for me", Ahri said and stood beside Karma, looking over the small lake and the waterfall. The sound of the water was surprisingly quiet, fitting for this place.

‟Even though my time table is full of things to do, there was still some space for you." Karma winked at her. ‟So, Ahri..you want to learn how to use your magic, right?"

‟That's why I came here, yes", Ahri answered and frowned for a moment. Karma turned around in the direction of the water, hands at her hips.

‟So, let us start with the basics, right? What do you know about magic at all?"

‟I don't know anything about it. I know that magic is a part of every culture on Valoran...but that's about it. I'm using my own abilities more on instinct, then really.. focusing or concentrating on something", Ahri answered. It sounded strange in her own ears, to speak like this considering what she already had done with her magic.

‟That's right. Magic is a part of our culture. It's deeply connected with the world around us, with every living being. Every human, yordle or even creatures from the Shadow Isles has magic within their bodies. But, only a few are capable of using this magic...these are the people we call summoners or magicians", Karma explained. A jade-green flame danced around her fingertips like it would be nothing.

‟And even though all magicians are more or less the same to some extend, we all differs when it comes how we can use magic. Some are so talented, that they reach their full capabilities in early years, while others don't even master the basics until old age", Karma continued.

Ahri nodded and listened carefully. It wasn't very encouraging to hear it like this. So, it may be that she would never ever master herself. She would be a useless fighter for the League, at least on her own until she would become a puppet again.

‟Don't let this pull you down", Karma smiled at her encouraging, ‟you are talented. Even though your magic differs greatly from everything I've seen so far, I can still teach you some basic training motions."

‟I'm listening. I want to master myself...otherwise I won't be much of a help to anybody", Ahri replied with a short annoyed sigh.

‟Magic requires only two things: Great mental strength and willpower. You want to use the magic, which is living inside of you. You want to give it a new form. It's like a blacksmith would forge a piece of iron into a sword. It sounds more difficult than it actually is", Karma said and sat down onto her knees, making a hand gesture.

Ahri followed her example and sat down as well, hands on her lap, curious what would happen next.

‟The first thing you need to learn is..to feel the flow of magic within yourself and the world around you. You said you use your magic on instinct...now you need to learn to control this. Meditate..and focus on the magic inside you", Karma explained her. ‟If you do it correctly, you will sink into a deep trance... within this trance you will be able to feel your own magic. Just to inform you it may take several hours before you awake."

‟Several hours?", Ahri exclaimed in surprise and looked at Karma with an unbelieving expression on her face.

‟You will not realize it at all. Just a warning that I may not be here anymore when you wake up, If that happens your training for today is over", Karma answered and winked at her. ‟Well then..let us begin. Close your eyes and relax."

‟If you say so..", Ahri replied and took a deep breath. It was actually her first time she would do something like this. She closed her eyes just as Karma ordered and slowed down her breath. She clasped her hands together, slightly changing the position of her legs. She now sat there in the lotus position.

‟Become one with the sounds around you..listen to the waterfall", Karma said. Her voice was calm, nearly soothing. ‟Clear your thoughts and your mind..."

Ahri only nodded nearly imperceptible. She tried her best to push out any thoughts. To forget her surroundings, her worries about her deeds. Everything what wasn't necessary to her right now. A deep calm slowly came over her. And even her normally very sensitive ears, only seemed to hear the sound of the waterfall.

‟Now...use your magic. Try to summon your orb, without actually summoning it. Just feel the flow of magic..." Karma's voice sounded strangely distant to Ahri. Like she would stand in a valley, and Karma would yell at her from the top of a hill.

But, like the Ionian leader ordered her, Ahri tried to summon her orb. She felt how the magic gathered in her fingertips, like it usually did when she summoned her weapon of choice. She clasped the hands tightly together. She needed to control her inherent instincts. She didn't need to summon anything, she just needed to feel it.

Moments passed and by this time, she slowly started to feel something new inside her. Slowly she opened her hands again. She didn't see anything, but she felt how magical energy danced around her fingertips. It felt like she would pick up an item within the League. A flow of constantly moving energy. Like a fast moving river, running down a mountain. Like a gust of wind on the wide steppes. She didn't have the fitting words to describe it.

But, just like the wind she couldn't catch the magical flow. She felt it, but grabbing and using it for her purposes wasn't possible. Ahri tried it again and again, without any success.

Slightly frustrated she opened her eyes and looked around for a moment. Karma was nowhere to see anymore. 'So...I way away for a few hours, yes? I did everything right?', Ahri thought confused. The magic she had felt moments ago, already disappeared. She heard steps behind her, and turned around, still sitting in the lotus position. Her heart skipped a beat.

‟Hello, Ahri! So you're finally back in the here and now, huh?", Leona asked her with a short smile. She wore her long Solari robe today going for a more comfortable look, even though she had her sword on her back. Ahri looked behind Leona for a moment. The gardens were completely empty. She was alone with Leona.

‟Hello, Leona...uh..how long did you wait for me?", she replied and blinked a few times.

‟Uhm...I was waiting here for half a hour already. Or at least that's my guess", she answered and smiled.

‟How long was I away?", Ahri asked herself. She looked up into the sky. The sun had already passed the zenith, so it needed to be one or maybe two hours after midday. It didn't feel like this. It more felt like a few minutes.

‟I don't know..but tell me how was it then? Did you learn something useful?", Leona asked and sat down besides her, leaning back onto her hands. She placed her sword beside her. Ahri turned around to look at her, changing the position of her legs, bending them.

‟I guess it was only the first step right now. I can feel the magic inside me...but I cannot use it willingly or control it in any way. It is slipping away from me", Ahri answered frustrated about the minimal progress. That wasn't even progress, not even the basics of magic using.

‟Don't lose hope", Leona replied encouraging, and clapped on her shoulder. ‟I am pretty sure you will learn it. Story from me: To master my sun given powers..well, I needed to study and learn it for months."

‟I'm far too impatient for something like this. You know you can do something like this, but you aren't able to perform it by yourself", Ahri replied and let out a short sigh.

‟I know it's frustrating. It was the same with me in the beginning. I knocked out multiple soldiers of my tribe during the awakening..but when I should do it again, I miserably failed", Leona explained amused. ‟It's only a matter of time and learning. And hey: We both can train in the League when we go back."

Ahri let out a short sigh, before she nodded. ‟Alright...alright..thanks", she said quietly, before she changed the topic. ‟Anyway...how was your day until now?"

‟Huh..not really something special or exciting. I mostly walked around Placidium and visited different temples and shrines. Oh, and I visited one of your baths...you have a really open culture, don't you?", Leona asked her amused and stretched out her arms for a moment.

‟Well..I guess you could say it like that", Ahri answered shortly. The idea to see Leona completely naked, when she walked into one of these baths, washed herself...Ahri felt how her face turned reddish. She quickly shook her head to get the images out of it. 'That's something to dream about huh?', she thought and slapped herself mentally.

‟Anyway...after some time, I decided it would be a good idea to pay you a visit. I met with Karma and we talked for a moment...she told me not to disturb you unless you awake from your trance...she looked rather happy", Leona just continued. ‟And since then I waited here."

‟Was it that fascinating?", Ahri asked with a chuckle and earned a little nudge from Leona.

‟Well, you made a little light show while in your trance...and I didn't have anything better to do so..yes", Leona answered and laughed quietly. ‟So..what do we do now?"

'Do it! Do it now! Confess and give her the present...it's the perfect moment, Ahri!', a voice commanded her in the back of her head. Ahri's hand slowly wandered to the little bag with the bracelet inside.

‟Huh..I don't have any idea", Ahri answered, before she took a deep breath and gathered all of her courage to continue. ‟But, you know...there is something else."

‟Hm? What is it, Ahri? You're alright, you don't look so well...", Leona said worried and frowned slightly.

‟I'm completely fine!", Ahri quickly stated. ‟But, you know...I have a little present for you. It's just well..because you came with me to Ionia and so on..." 'Oh come one, Ahri..you really believe something like this will work?', the voice in her head said mocking.

‟A present? You didn't have to do something like this", Leona stopped her with a wave of her hand, quietly chuckling.

‟No! It's completely alright for me!" Ahri opened the little pocket and pulled out the little bracelet and handed it over to Leona. She took it and carefully turned it around her fingers, eying the runes and symbols on it. The bracelet seemed to shine even more brilliantly in the midday sun.

‟That's...wow. Thank you, Ahri..it's beautiful", Leona said stunned. She pulled back the sleeve of her robe, and put on the bracelet. The golden coloration from it, fitted her perfectly. It nearly looked like it was made for her.

‟No problem, Leona. But...well..you know there is something else I wanted to tell you", she said and took a deep breath. 'Go on now! You can do it!'

‟What is it?", Leona asked and blinked at her a few times. Even though her voice had an undertone, Ahri couldn't sort in. It somehow sounded...eager?

‟I...I...", Ahri started. She felt how her face turned completely red, she felt the heat. But then she just couldn't hold it back anymore. It literally burst out of her. ‟I love you! I love you Leona!"

Ahri nearly jumped at the sun warrior, embracing her in the motion and sent her down onto her back where they both stayed for a while. Ahri pressed her head against Leona's chest and felt how a few tears of joy were running down her cheeks.

Ahri felt Leona's hands on her back, which gently stroke her and carefully pulled her up to her own face. They looked into each others eyes for a moment, Ahri lost herself in the amber-colored ones from Leona. She looked happy. ‟I love you too, Ahri...I love you too...", Leona whispered quietly. She moved up her head a little bit until their lips met each other.

The feelings inside her body..she couldn't describe them. It was like someone let off a completely firework from the festival. A sensation of feelings rushed through her entire body, she felt happiness, joy and simple love. So, that was how real love felt. Not the playfully things she did to her victims so long ago. No. This here was something different, something far more beautiful.

Ahri gently returned the kiss, pushing Leona's head back onto the grass during the motion. The short touches of their lips...it was enough to blow away every concern, every problem. After a while Leona interrupted their kiss, looking into Ahri's eyes.

‟I'm just...happy...", Ahri whispered quietly, and slowly moved down again, placing her head on Leona's chest once more. She listened to her heartbeat, enjoyed her warmth. ‟I never loved anyone like this before..."

‟I never loved either", Leona replied quietly, and stroke over her shoulders and back. Ahri purred quietly and closed her eyes. ‟And you know...where I come from it's not normal to love another woman either...so.."

‟Since when..?", Ahri asked quietly, looking up again.

‟After I watched over you..after your first fight", Leona answered with a chuckle. ‟The next day I started to feel something new, when I thought about you. But, well..I was pretty confused in the beginning...it was simply something new."

‟Oh, we both aren't different here", Ahri giggled quietly. ‟Since you gave me the little kiss on the cheek in the park...my head was spinning around. But, you know..I couldn't tell you. I don't know why..."

‟Oh, yes the little kiss. It was a promise..more to myself to be honest", Leona replied amused. ‟I told myself: 'You will tell her..you will do it'. Luckily, for me..you did it first."

‟Huh...it turned out good for us.." Ahri slowly slipped back up, until she reached Leona's face again. They kissed each other again, enjoying the feeling of each others warm body.

The time slowly passed for them, while they simply continued lying around there, kissing and enjoying the closeness, the loneliness. Nobody was around to disturb their peace. They had all the time in the world, and they enjoyed every moment of it.

* * *

‟Now! We should do it now!"

‟No. Not yet."

‟Why not? It's the perfect timing. No one is here. She could easily fully transform."

‟No one around? You underestimate the power of the sun."

‟We can take her ou..."

‟No! It takes some time for the crystal to fully activate. A time Leona would use. She isn't just a normal soldier or warrior...and you really don't want to make her angry."

‟I think YOU overestimate her. What could she do against such power?"

‟Like I said..the crystal needs time to activate her full potential. So..we'll wait until they separate from each other. And now listen carefully...we will do it like this..."

* * *

**Author's Note**  
Finally a new chapter! And finally their first kiss! Hope you enjoyed it. Right now exams are thrown at me so it took me far too long xP


	11. Losing your Way

**Author's Note **

I guess some people will not like what happens in this chapter, but this was my plan from the beginning. Hope you enjoy! :O

**Chapter 11**

**Losing your Way **

**A few hours later...**

Ahri slowly opened her eyes and looked up into the sky. It had an orange color, and the first few stars were already to see together with the full round moon. The mountains in the distance had the same color. The dusk obviously approached. For a short moment she was confused. When did she fall asleep, and where was she? She felt grass which tingled on her skin, her head was lying on something soft and warm.

Then she realized it again, as soon as she looked to her side. She was lying on Leona's lap, which leaned against one of the trees within the gardens, her face was raised into the sky, before she seemed to feel Ahri's motions and moved it down again, smiling.

‟Oh..you're awake again?", she said amused.

‟I...didn't even realize that I slept..", Ahri replied and slowly got up into a sitting position, rubbing over her eyes and head. She felt a little bit tired and exhausted. ‟When? What time is it?"

‟Shortly before the night", Leona answered and stretched her arms. ‟You fell asleep pretty fast, after you placed your head here. I didn't want to wake you up..maybe because the training was so exhausting."

‟Well..that wasn't really the case. Or maybe it was...it's more a mental training you know?", Ahri said and turned around to face Leona, suppressing a yawn. ‟But, you could wake me up. Now I'm feeling like a train drove over me!"

Leona laughed quietly, and placed her hands at Ahri's hips pulling her closer. ‟Mhm..maybe next time, I'll do", she whispered before their lips meet each other again. Ahri purred into the kiss like a small kitten would do. She could definitely get used to this.

‟You have such sweet lips...", Ahri said giggling, and Leona simply smiled.

‟Nice to hear something like this", Leona replied chuckling. She slowly stood up, pushing herself away from the tree. Ahri followed her example and stood up as well, stretching out her arms and legs, shortly cracking with her neck.

‟So, Ahri...what do we do next?" Leona asked, while she grabbed her sword and put it back onto her back. The last rays of the sun were reflected by the blade.

‟Well..there is a festival going on down in the city. Guess we should pay it a visit huh?", she said, grinning broadly. Ahri felt relaxed, happy and simply good. She was in the right mood for a big festival. The frustration about her failing with magic, was already forgotten. She would have fun right now, together with her..well. She would call Leona her beloved one. 'Wow..you're fast Ahri', she thought amused.

‟Sounds like an idea", Leona said, and grabbed her hand. ‟Well..we have a long way to go!" Ahri literally was pulled with Leona, when she started walking.

‟Woah..careful!" She laughed happily.

_The dark birds in the trees watched them with their glowing eyes, and none of them knew that they were there._

On their way to the giant staircase, which led them back to the city, their surroundings quickly became darker. The sun disappeared behind the giant mountains, and with that the night fell over Ionia. Thousands of stars sparkled above them, forming mysterious constellations some Ionians studied. But, with every minute, which passed, Leona seemed to get a little bit more nervous.

‟What is it? You seemed to be nervous?", Ahri asked after a while, while they crossed the bridges above the waterfall.

‟Well..it's just...", Leona started, and took a deep breath. ‟You know...I'm just not a night person. I feel..uncomfortable without the warming rays of the sun, without the clear sky above my head...even during a thunderstorm I still know, the sun is there. But, during the night..."

‟Hey. No need to worry about anything", Ahri quickly replied encouraging, with a smile on her lips. ‟The night isn't that bad..and after all most parts of this festival are during the night time. You will not even realize it, when we reach the city."

‟The night is the time of sleeping! It's dark, cold...I simply hate it", Leona stated with a short sigh. ‟But, well..different cultures and so on. Guess I have to stay awake for tonight. But, okay. I'll do it for you."

‟Yeah, that's right! You'll better stay awake!", Ahri replied amused and gave her a short peck on the cheek. Leona let out another sigh and shrugged.

They reached the 'Court of Harmony' after a short walk. And even this court was already lit up by dozens of lanterns and other magical light sources. The Twin Dragons were decorated with different symbols and runes, most of them stylized a fox. Hundreds of people crowded the place already, and a wanton mood was in the air.

‟You see..it isn't that bad, is it?", Ahri asked and smiled at Leona, while they slowly pushed through the crowd of people.

‟I guess I can survive one night", Leona answered laughing. ‟Anyway..where do you want to go?"

‟Back, down in the city. The main activities are all down there...besides this Court is more for the High Society of Ionia...and well..you can't have that much fun with politicians, noblewoman and so on right?", Ahri asked amused, while she led Leona through the crowd.

They reached the giant staircase, which would lead them down to the main city again, but they stood there for a moment, astonished by the view. They overlooked the giant city.

Even though the night was already over them and thousand of stars sparkled in the skies together with the full round moon, the whole city was lit up. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of paper lanterns hung on long ropes through the urban canyons. Magical lights danced within the air and formed strange symbols and runes, while some summoners only added their magic into these light shows.

Even up here they could easily hear the loud noise from the people. The laughing, loud singing and other kind of noise. Not a single soul would sleep during this night. At least not on Ionia. Ahri was really impressed by the view. She had never seen it like this before, and not from this height. The magic which was in the air was almost enough, that she felt slightly dizzy.

‟Impressive sight...", Leona commented left from her, and smiled shortly.

‟Well..I've never seen it from up here either...so yeah", she replied. She grinned and grabbed Leona at her sleeve. ‟Well, then! Let's go! The night is short!" They quickly, literally ran down the staircase, while dodging some summoners and other high persons who walked them up. Some looked at them both with an unbelieving face, but Ahri didn't care. She was here to have some fun!

When they reached the bottom of the staircase and entered the main city again, they were greeted with the typical sounds of an on going festival. Loud laughing and chatting, merchants who added noise when they loudly tried to sell their goods as well as some drunken people who sung songs. Sometimes they heard the explosion of a firework somewhere within the city.

‟So..what do we do first?", Leona asked her while she looked around and eyed the crowd of people. Her nervousness seemed to be slowly vanished or she was able to hide it pretty well. The streets were lit up strong enough, that anyone could assume it would be dawn.

‟I guess before it is too late, we should go to the main plaza", Ahri explained and started to walk in the direction of it.

‟Why? What is there?", Leona asked her and quickly followed her. It was easy to get lost within this crowd of humans.

‟Well..the main event, you could say. The festival got its name because of that...but I'll can explain it better when we reach it, it's easier that way", Ahri answered with a smile.

The main plaza of Placidium was nearly impassable, so many people were gathered here. In the center of this plaza was one giant tree. There were no leaves on it, instead hundreds of scrolls and small papers. On every single one was something written, some in Ionian characters, others in the typical from the mainland. A few guards guarded the area, and a few summoners were around here too, giving away the scrolls.

‟What is this?", Leona asked her curiously, while they pushed themselves towards the tree.

‟It's a tradition. You buy one of these scrolls from the summoners here...then you write all your worries and woes onto them and then when the morning comes, one summoner will use his magic to burn all these scrolls, so you can start without them into a new year", Ahri explained. This was the only Ionian tradition which she really honored.

‟Huh...that sound's interesting. Well, then. Let's do this..before the tree is completely covered", Leona replied amused.

They bought two scrolls together with some pencils. As soon as Ahri held the paper in her hand, she thought about what to write on it. During the last years, she always wrote things like that, nobody would cover her whole thing up, that she never turned back into a fox and so on. But, this year? She looked to Leona, which seemed to thought about it as well.

'I really hope nothing bad will happen..', Ahri thought, before she suddenly felt something in the air. Only for a short moment. It felt like some sort of distortion of magic within the area, she could hardly describe it. She looked over her shoulder, but didn't see anything only the crowd. Ahri looked to the summoners, but they seemed not to notice anything.

She felt a single drop of sweat, which ran down her face. Someone was following them around, she was absolutely sure about that, by now. She had the feeling of being followed, the feeling that something strange has happened behind their backs for too long. 'What the hell?', she thought stressed.

‟You're alright?", Leona asked her quietly, while she pinned her scroll onto the tree.

‟Yeah..I'm okay", Ahri answered and smiled shortly. Whatever she felt..as she couldn't describe it, and nobody else seemed to notice it, she would keep it to herself for now. At least she now had an idea of what to write on this scroll.

'I worry about the future..what will happen to me during the next months and years...I have a bad feeling..but please let it be imagination only', Ahri wrote onto the scroll and hung it up onto the tree. She didn't look what Leona had written. It was impolite to do so.

‟So..we have still plenty of time left until the morning comes...", Leona stated, while they stepped back so that other people could reach the tree.

‟And there are plenty of things to do! Let's get something to drink!", Ahri exclaimed. She tried to hold up her careless, happy image for now. She again thanked herself for her acting skills. 'At least do it for Leona..'

‟Oh, right. Getting into the perfect mood for the festival right?", Leona replied amused.

‟You could say it like this! But, I'm only thirsty right now", Ahri answered and laughed quietly. ‟Besides..the last time I was drunk it didn't go well."

‟Oh, what happened?", Leona asked her curiously.

‟Oh..let's just say one guy was a little bit too pushy. And well..I was drunk..", Ahri rubbed the back of her head for a moment. ‟Let's say half of the inn was destroyed and after this incident, I sat in prison for a few days and so on."

Leona burst out laughing. ‟You? In a bar fight? Hard to believe that!"

‟But, it's absolutely true! When I'm drunk I always do things, you wouldn't expect from someone like me!", Ahri protested, while they both searched for one booth who sold different kind of drinks. ‟Eh..do you have some coins left?", she asked Leona, blushing slightly.

‟My little bracelet here was a bit too expensive, right?", Leona winked at her, but she nodded. ‟Well, it's fair when I pay the drinks then."

They wandered through the city for the whole night. They bought something to drink, they watched the dozens of different plays on the stages within the city which told different stories from the ancient Ionia, the most popular of course was 'The Tale of Reina'. Ahri found numerous new dresses and clothing, and even Leona found something fascinating as some merchants sold old Ionian weaponry.

* * *

‟Why did you do this? She felt it...otherwise she wouldn't turn around her head."

‟I was testing something."

‟She nearly uncovered you. You played far too risky there."

The other man just shook his head. ‟Ts."

‟But, well. Let's concentrate on our main goal here...the sun is about to rise in half an hour."

‟I hope your man took care of everything."

‟My summoners aren't idiots. The area is safe. We will work like planned. I'll take care of Leona, and teleport her to the Court of Harmony..while you..."

‟While I take care of Ahri...this little bitch. From up there Leona can watch her little lover's true nature."

‟If it works out."

‟I did enough research on it! If you don't trust me, you can go back to Cecily, that little.." He took a deep breath. ‟I will show her, that I'm correct. Then I want to see her face."

‟Alright then. Let's get the plan working. Finally, a little bit of fun." The man laughed and put on his hood and mask. The two persons left the side alley, and disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

**Hours later...**

The first light of the day was to see on the horizon behind the main city. The main plaza of Placidium was completely quiet. Not a single sound was to hear, the whole crowd was just standing there and all of them faced the giant tree in the middle of it. The tree itself was completely covered with scrolls and papers. Not a single space of wood was left, even on the highest branches some people had hung their scrolls.

Ahri and Leona were within this crowd too. Ahri slightly leaned against Leona, she had placed her head on her shoulder and yawned. She felt exhausted and tired. It was a long night, and even though some alcohol, cooling drinks and so on helped her to stay awake, there was some point where someone just couldn't anymore.

‟Hey..now you're falling asleep", Leona teased her, while stroking over the her side. She had put an arm around her, pushing her closer to her body.

‟Not a night owl..but staying awake so long without a problem..", Ahri replied complaining, and smiled shortly. ‟Hey..it begins", Ahri whispered and nodded to the tree.

A single summoner walked towards the tree, which was protected by a bunch of guards. The robe and hood of the summoner were decorated with different symbols and runes. He turned around, facing the people before raising his calm voice. Using some kind of magic, his voice was clear to hear throughout the whole area and beyond.

‟The red sun rises in the east and grants us a new dawn. A new dawn during this year under the sign of the fox", he spoke. ‟And how the tradition demands...with the first light, we burn the scrolls on this tree. We start anew in this year without worries or woes."

The summoner turned around towards the tree and raised both of his hands. In an instant the whole tree was on fire. The rays of the sun shone brilliantly through the burning branches and papers, giving the whole scenery something magical. And even though the flames were real, the tree wasn't harmed. Only the scrolls slowly turned into ash.

‟The glowing fire is a symbol of purification. We purify our souls and our hearts", he turned around to the crowd again. ‟We start pure into this year.

But, that's not the only symbol of this tree. You see the light of the sun? No matter how dark the situation is, no matter which sorrow came over you...there will always be a new light on the horizon. There always will be hope for you. Never lose hope, never lose your chosen way in the search for enlightenment. Never lose your way...and with these words..we start in this new year of the fox. May it bring good fortune to us all!"

As soon as he spoke the last word, dozens of fireworks were let off behind him, illuminating the whole sky. A magical bolt of energy was also fired into the air, as soon as it reached a specific height it formed a giant, white fox which ran over Placidium. After a short moment it exploded into harmless magical sparks, which rained down onto the city.

A deafening cheers were to hear all over Placidium. People applauded, cheered up all over the city. Ahri switched her place, and now faced Leona, standing directly before her face.

‟Happy new year", she whispered and moved her head forwards, kissing Leona onto the lips. She felt how the warrior instantly returned it. Her soft, warm and sweet lips. ‟I love you, Leona...", Ahri added quietly.

‟I love you too, Ahri..." They embraced each other, and Ahri placed her head on Leona's chest. She listened to the heartbeat and closed her eyes. For a short moment, her head was empty. There was no place for worries about being chased around or anything like this.

The plaza got emptier with the time as more and more people went home to their beds. The last spark of fire on the tree disappeared and the sun was rising. The first day after the festival, was always a day of sleep. Only some guards or harbor workers would be up, the rest of Ionia would be sleeping.

‟Shall we go too? Our beds are waiting at the inn, huh?", Leona whispered into Ahri's ear, which simply nodded.

‟Hm...I presume it's only one bed for this day..", Ahri replied quietly and slowly let go of Leona. She grabbed her hand, and they slowly started to leave this area, walking through the rather empty streets with only a few people which were still around. Everything seemed to be peaceful.

The peaceful feeling was brutally shattered when they reached the street, which would lead them to their inn and rooms. At the first glance the street was ordinary, with nothing special. But, as they slowly walked through it, it looked like the people here have left in a hurry. The jugs were lying around, smashed paper lanterns. Even the booths were empty, the selling goods were lying around and even the registers were still in place.

It was completely silent around them. Not even a bird was singing. They couldn't even hear any other people anymore. The only noise came from some papers, which were blown away by a light gust of wind. Ahri swallowed. Her bad feeling from before, came back in an instant. Sweat was running down her face.

‟Leona?", Ahri asked quietly. The sun warrior simply nodded.

‟Something's not right...which merchant would leave all of their earnings behind?" Of course this was only a rhetorical question. Leona's hand slowly wandered to her sword. ‟We should turn around...go another way. I...don't feel safe here."

Ahri's fox instincts alerted her, and she quickly looked over her shoulder. She spotted some hooded figures who stood at the end of the street, blocking it. Their long robes showed that they were obviously summoners. Ahri licked her lips. The aura around them was somehow...dark and grim.

‟Leona..."

‟Shit", Leona cursed and drew her sword, ready for combat.

‟Well..well...well...who wants to leave already?", a voice asked, in front of them and they looked back. More of these dark summoners appeared everywhere, blocking every possible alley and path. They were surrounded.

Two men were walking down the street, coming closer to them. While the first one looked more or less like a normal summoner with pitch-black hair, dark-blue eyes with the typical robe, the other one was rather atypical. He wore a long black mantle, a hood which hid his face and the few parts they saw, were covered by a mask. He had put his hands into the pockets and overall looked somehow slack.

‟Isaac?", the summoner asked the other person, ‟Would you be so kindly?"

‟Just like planned Raven. Have fun here", the hooded person said, and pulled one of his hands out his pocket. ‟I am very sorry about this Leona. But, you would be in great danger if you stay here."

‟Who are you guys? What do you wa..." Before Leona could end her sentence, she lost the ground under her feet. An invisible might forcefully push her back, and sent her flying against the wall of one of the houses. She let out a scream of sudden pain. Ahri's fine ears heard the sound of breaking bones.

‟Leona!", Ahri shouted and quickly summoned her orb into her right hand. She felt how sweat was running down her face, her hands were shaking slightly. Martin WAS right after all. Someone had followed her around the whole time!

‟Uh uh Ahri..you shouldn't do that", the other summoner said, shook his forefinger, like a mother would do to her children.

‟Fuck off!", Ahri snarled and threw her green glowing orb at the summoners. The following explosion was enough to destroy multiple booths in the process, even damaging some of the houses around the street. But, Ahri felt that this wasn't enough. The dust of the explosion was forcefully pushed away by magic, and she saw that the summoner had surrounded them with a white glowing barrier.

She suddenly heard how Leona let out a loud shout behind her. A beam of pure, burning sunlight was coming down onto the summoners. The light danced around the white barrier, blocking the view of the summoners. But, it didn't deal any damage towards them. The barrier was enough to block the attack.

‟Ahri! Run!", Leona screamed from behind, and Ahri made the mistake of looking behind her. Leona had stood up, holding herself up using one of the destroyed booths. She still had her sword raised, blood was running down her face. ‟Watch out!"

Before Ahri could react, she felt how the magic hit her body. Like Leona before her, she lost ground contact and smashed into another small wooden structure. The whole thing came down onto her, burying her under the rubble. She moaned in pain, and felt how the wood cut over the skin. Luckily, nothing was broken.

‟Still awake, I see", the masked person said. Ahri couldn't do anything more than watching. The magic still seemed to hold her down, like an exhaust spell on the Fields. The masked person, which seemed to be called Isaac, suddenly disappeared.

‟Leona!", Ahri shouted. In a short, golden flash of light the summoner appeared again closely to Leona. He raised his hand and before the warrior could react, hit her temple. Leona immediately crumpled, and fell down onto the ground. Knocked out.

‟Leave her alone!", Ahri screamed. She felt how the spell over her was getting weaker, and she slowly got out of the rubble, summoning her orb in the process again, ready to attack again.

‟Nothing will happen to her", Isaac suddenly said. He held Leona before him, like a shield. Ahri lowered her hand slightly. ‟If you follow the instructions of Raven over there..everything will be fine." Blue lights started to surround him as well as Leona, before they both suddenly vanished into thin air. Summoning magic.

'A teleportation spell..', Ahri thought and looked around. Her situation was hopeless. She was surrounded by at least a dozen of summoners as well as the last person, which seemed to be one of their leaders. She let her orb vanish. 'Don't have much of a choice here..', she thought grimly.

‟I waited so long for this moment, Ahri..so long", he said darkly. He pulled out something from his robe, a small red glowing gem. ‟My name is, like, my partner already said, Raven... today will finally be the day, where I can show the world your true face! The face of a monster!"

‟What do you want from me? I'm not a monster", Ahri replied stubborn and frowned. She clenched her fists, gathering her magic. Maybe if she surprised them with a single attack, she could flee. Her head made up different kind of planes and strategies.

‟You are a monster! I was there, Ahri! I SAW your judgment!", Raven exclaimed loudly. The gem in his hand, looked like it was about to break as he clenched his fist around it.

‟Wait..you're a summoner from the League?!", Ahri asked surprised. She remembered her conversation with Martin. ‟Wait a second..let me guess..you're one of these summoners from the Council, right?"

‟Clever. Yes, I am. I am one of the few clear minded summoners, within the League. A summoner who understood your dangerous nature! YOU have killed so many innocent people for nothing! And you will continue!", he exclaimed angrily. Ahri stepped back. The sudden outburst...Ahri could feel the magic within Raven. Dark, untamed.

‟I have changed! I don't continue down this path! I've changed and I will help humanity from now on!", Ahri shouted back. She felt a slight panic inside herself. 'But..if he wanted to kill me..he could have done it before, right?', she tried to calm herself down.

‟YOU WILL NEVER CHANGE!", he screamed, his voice had something fanatically. ‟I originally come from Noxus..my wife was part of the invasion...she was the very first person you have killed!"

‟Wait...you mean..the summoner on the battlefield was your wife? I didn't kill her on intention! She was already dying! I didn't do anything..it..just happened!", Ahri shouted back, while the continued to stumble backwards. Just how long was this street? ‟How do you know about this anyway?"

‟A whole company of medics was on their way..they could have rescued her! And how I know it? Well..I can see far more during your judgment, than the pictures you were showing us", Raven screamed. He took a deep breath, and obviously tried to calm down. ‟Let me tell you something useful..."

‟I'm listening..", Ahri replied as calmly as she could. She needed more time. She needed to think about a plan! 'You're a fox! You can always escape!', she thought desperately. But, every plan that came into her mind was useless.

‟Every time you have stolen a soul..the soul partly merged with your own, while the other part simply vanished like the souls of the dead. That means, for example.. when you killed the innocent, young soldier from the inn you're soul and mind started to recognize feelings like guilt, remorse and so on", Raven explained surprisingly calmly.

‟Wait..you mean..the person who I am today..the person I am nowadays..", Ahri slowly started, and Raven nodded.

‟Yes. Your soul is more a patchwork than really your own", Raven coldly stated. Ahri swallowed hard. That sounded...harsh. She was not really she. Her mind and soul was built out of dozens of different soul parts. It was hard to believe that, or to believe it at all.

‟And now...let me tell you..how I will show the world your true nature." He pointed the red crystal towards Ahri, which continue to stumble backwards. It looked like something dripped out of the crystal, like some kind of red dust. It slowly floated through the air towards Ahri...until it reached her chest.

Ahri let out a scream of pain. It felt like someone has touched her with a searing piece of iron. She felt what these red dust was. Souls! Dozens of them...she felt the hatred within them. Hatred, endless rage, the lust for killing and blood spilling. ‟What the...?", she exclaimed painfully. She looked down onto her chest. The dust penetrated it, entering her body. It was painful, nearly too much to handle for her mind.

‟These are the souls of mass murderer, pyromaniacs and psychopaths. People who are dangerous..even for Noxian standards. Your own soul will merge with them...your body will change to fit your corrupted soul...and then..everybody will see the monster you really are", Raven explained. His voice was calm and somehow had an undertone of success.

Ahri fell down onto her knees. The dust had completely entered her body. The pain slowly changed. It was replaced by the feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. A flow of pure energy, a feeling of being strong. She had felt it before, when she had killed and stole the souls of the people. It was the same. But, this time..it was far stronger, far superior to anything she had ever felt.

She fought against it. ‟I..will..not...change...", Ahri pressed out, between compressed lips. Her fingernails scratched over the ground. She looked at them for a second. They grew longer, and somehow reminded her of claws. Claws long and strong enough to cut open human flesh...kill them with ease and feast upon their souls...

'Wait! That's not you!', Ahri thought desperately. She saw how her hair changed the color to a fiery red. She looked onto her back, as she felt a change there too. She had nine tails right now, all of them in a orange coloration. 'Nine-Tailed...', she thought. She knew that she slowly lost the battle, the power inside her was overwhelming.

‟How do you feel, you monster? Hey!", Raven shouted to the other summoners. ‟Get her under control and shackle her. We will the world this monster, we will show the League her true nature." His voice sounded confident. He was sure about his success.

Ahri felt how her incisor teeth grew longer, nearly reaching her chin like the fangs of an animal. Her senses seemed to become finer than ever before, she felt how the consumed souls activated the magic which was lying inside her. 'Fight, Ahri! Fight against it! Don't you remember? You wanted to help humans..not destroy them!', a desperate voice said in the back of her head. 'Think about Leo..'

The voice in her head slowly disappeared. She started to laugh quietly, and raised her head.

‟Raven!"

‟Damn! Get the hell out of here!"

Ahri couldn't understand these words anymore, they sounded like someone spoke in a strange language to her. But, it didn't matter anymore. She felt the magic inside her so clearly. The way it was meant to be. She summoned her orb into her right hand, and threw it against two of these summoners. The explosion destroyed half of the building, killing the two persons in the process.

She caught the souls with her magic, before they could disappear. She consumed them, and felt how her power grew. She let out a bloodcurdling howl. It was time to burn these simple human structures down..it was time to kill and feel the blood.

And in the back of her head someone screamed in agony.

**Author's Note **

Evil Ahri incoming. Everyone get your heads down. I took inspiration from her transformation from various sources (including the original Kumiho's stories and Inuyasha :O). Next chapter will change the point of view to Leona...just because Ahri's head is messed up right now. :P


End file.
